News Helping Australian industry use satellite imagery

Digital Earth Australia (DEA) and partners FrontierSI have engaged with more than 500 stakeholders on the development of the DEA industry strategy.

Digital Earth Australia’s Director of Business Development and Communication, Trent Kershaw, said understanding the needs of different industry sectors was key to unlocking the full economic and social potential of satellite data and imagery in Australia.

“We want industry to understand and use the DEA products and services, and to help drive the future of DEA investment,” he says.

“Our new strategy will focus on data and technology, education and training, and awareness.”

“The potential to develop satellite applications and services tailored for the regional and global markets is huge, with recent studies suggesting the geospatial services sector generates US$400 billion in revenue per year globally,” the report says.

“In Australia, the Earth Observation (EO) market provided $500 million of direct economic benefits to the Australian economy in 2015. By 2025 this is modelled to more than triple to $1.7 billion. This provides a significant opportunity for Australian businesses to capture this value through innovative EO applications.

“DEA will enable small businesses and industry to more readily access near real time satellite data and derived information to innovate and create new products. This will increase the profitability and productivity of businesses in sectors such as land planning, construction, agriculture and mineral exploration.”

Labs to launch

“As part of the new strategy, a small-scale, targeted incubator program called DEA Labs has been developed to help Australian businesses use satellite data and DEA technologies to solve real-world problems,” Kershaw says.

DEA labs is proposed to accelerate adoption of Earth observation and DEA technologies by providing support and funding to develop services and solutions faced by Australian businesses collaboratively.

The DEA program is an Australian Government investment implemented by Geoscience Australia focused on increasing the use of EO data across Australia. In May 2018, the Australian Government announced ongoing funding of approximately $13 million a year for the DEA program.

In funding the DEA program, the Hon Senator Matthew Canavan said that: “Our investment in DEA will ensure a range of Australian industries have access to data that can help them: tailor their investments, create jobs in target regions and increase their competitiveness”.