We need to get our hands dirty: lessons from the first EO Summit

Yes, it did. EO enthusiasts of the past 10 – 15 years know that you’re often facing the same usual suspects, met at the typical EO sessions organized by Copernicus, ESA, etc. This EO summit, organized by EO expert Aravind and his organisation Terrawatch, already differentiates in the exposition hall, with “new space” companies like Planet, Pixxel, Kuva Space, Open Cosmos, SatVu or EarthDaily analytics presenting their products and services. 

Entering the plenary room, the talks on stage have a different tone. They really question the state of EO, facing the fact that adoption is taken so (too) long.

Entering the plenary room, the talks on stage have a different tone. They really question the state of EO, facing the fact that adoption is taken so (too) long. Questions like “why?” and “how to progress from here?” are not only asked to the major EO data and service providers, but also to EO investors and regulatory framework builders. The open setting and mindset give space to transparent conversations, giving the audience a deeper insight and confirmation on what the next steps will be.

So, what will those next steps be? Well, it’s clear that things are moving. Coming from wild years of investment, we are now moving through a time of more caution. Work in EO is still mainly covered by governmental sources (80%!). Yet more and more regulations around climate change, biodiversity and nature preservation are pushing EO towards commercial ground. Think of GHG emission regulations, the nature recovery law, the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and deforestation regulations, the upcoming Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures, … Enterprises will have to choose between investing in (often EO-based) monitoring & evaluation services or paying fines.

Work in EO is still mainly covered from governmental sources (80%!). Yet more and more regulations around climate change, biodiversity and nature preservation are pushing EO towards commercial ground.

It seems the stars are getting aligned for EO, but delivering a successful solution remains challenging due to the diverse and in-depth domain knowledge required for its implementation. The need is quite different depending on the “Vertical” you’re looking at. Niche organisations have the advantage of more in-depth knowledge but face a real risk of failing if adoption takes too much time. This makes investors turn towards larger organisations, that can cover different niches at the same time, spreading the risk.

It seems the stars are getting aligned for EO, but delivering a successful solution remains challenging due to the diverse and in-depth domain knowledge required for its implementation.

When asking the big EO players what the best strategy is to win, their answers focus on technical and practical solutions like faster launching cycles, more and better analytics, more bands, more accuracy, better machine-to-machine integration, … The wealth of freely accessible data (such as Sentinels and Landsat) accelerates the integration of Earth Observation (EO) potential, yet it also challenges the willingness to invest in premium commercial EO data. Integrating these free datasets with commercial EO data services to come to a best-fit and marketable solution is one of the main challenges today. So, what is the key factor that can guarantee the widespread adoption of EO? Having common standards (but please industry-driven, not even more complex OGC standards!), as well as having more sense of urgency on how we can face climate change, achieve our Sustainable Development Goals and monitor and measure our Natural Capital.

A final takeaway came from a panel member from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures: EO firms wait too long until potential clients understand what they’re doing. We should go out there, get our hands dirty and look for solutions. Be specific and make your clients understand their return on investment when investing in EO.

EO firms wait too long until potential clients understand what they’re doing. We should go out there, get our hands dirty and look for solutions. Be specific and make your clients understand their return on investment when investing in EO.

Going to EO summit was definitely worth the travel, we’ll join again next year. But for now, let’s make our hands dirty first!