Catapult-led team addressing Malaysia’s multi-billion Dollar environmental challenges
Marketing
Under the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP), the Satellite Applications Catapult is leading a team of SMEs and academic organisations in the delivery of an Earth and Sea Observation System (EASOS) for Malaysia.
Working with the National Defence University of Malaysia and other government agencies in the country, the consortium will address major environmental challenges that are costing the Malaysian government billions of dollars each year. During 2014, the combined impact on the Malaysian economy of flooding, marine pollution and illegal logging was estimated to be more than $12.5Bn. As a result, the Malaysian government has identified these three areas as critically important priorities to be addressed.
Using satellite data and satellite-enabled technology, the EASOS programme will deliver, trial and evaluate solutions for flood risk, marine pollution and illegal logging. The consortium will work with the respective Malaysian government departments to encourage common information sharing and applications to support infrastructure. This will be delivered through a data and alert delivery interface providing access to EO data that is fed into analysis tools to make critical information available to operators and decision makers.
Stuart Martin, CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult, said: “Whilst the challenges of flooding, marine pollution and illegal logging are all quite different, they share many common factors, and all would benefit from wide-area situational awareness.
“The consortium’s work is designed to stimulate sustainable, long-term operations capability in-country, deliver economic returns to Malaysia, and improve the country’s citizens’ quality of life. By enabling the country to be more environmentally resilient, we are confident that these vital activities will help improve Malaysia’s social and economic prospects.”
In addition to the Catapult, the consortium partners are Janus TCD, Stevenson Astrosat, Geocento, Ambiental, Plymouth Marine Laboratories, AutoNaut, Riskaware, Telespazio VEGA, Earth Observation Inc, Leicester University, Sterling Geo, Oxford University and eOsphere.
The UK Space Agency’s International Partnerships Programme is a œ152m multi-year programme designed to use people’s space knowledge, expertise and capability to provide sustainable, economic or societal benefits to undeveloped nations and developing economies.
The UK Space Agency grants are awarded to successful industrial and academic partners to run projects addressing real-world problems.
For more information on this news article, please contact us.
