One of the funded projects, led by the Sports City Management Company, focuses on improving visitor travel to Manchester's Etihad Campus, home to the Etihad Stadium and Co-op Live arena. The project aims to reduce congestion and enhance the sustainability of fan travel by developing an AI-enabled travel demand solution. This solution will utilize satellite data from the European Space Agency's Copernicus Open Access Hub and Sentinel satellites to predict travel patterns for major events. The insights gained will assist transport operators and event planners in managing congestion, public transport needs, and crowd movement, in collaboration with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).
Another project involves a partnership between Octopus Investments and Treeconomy. This initiative will employ AI and remote sensing technologies, utilizing satellite data from sources like Landsat and Sentinel-2, along with localized drone data, to monitor and evaluate nature restoration projects. The goal is to support investment decisions by providing reliable environmental metrics, thereby increasing confidence in the allocation of private finance towards sustainable and measurable conservation efforts.
DSIT Minister Chris Bryant commented, "This government is embracing the power of technology to improve lives and support businesses to thrive. We have a fast-growing space sector in the UK but for too long we have struggled to tap the huge potential of satellite data to drive positive change in the real world. These new projects seek to unlock this potential by combining data from space with cutting-edge technologies here on Earth."
The "Unlocking Space for Business" initiative, managed by the UK Space Agency, aims to drive innovation by integrating satellite data and services with other data sources and technologies. The program offers not only grants but also exploration workshops, networking events, learning sessions, and online resources to help businesses understand the value of satellite data.
Dr. Craig Brown, Investment Director at the UK Space Agency, stated, "These new grants and contracts are just some of the ways the UK Space Agency is kickstarting growth and creating high-quality jobs to position the UK as a leading space economy."
The Unlocking Space for Business program is designed to address the challenges faced by organizations that have not traditionally utilized satellite data. The projects funded under this initiative will accelerate innovation and investment across various industries by showcasing the potential of space data in applications ranging from AI-powered climate models to maritime incident avoidance and enhanced football fan travel.
Additionally, the UK Space Agency is focusing on growing the UK space sector through its broader "Unlocking Space" program, which includes initiatives like the GovBridge project to simplify government procurement processes for space companies and the "Unlocking Space for Investment" program. The latter includes an GBP 8 million investment in the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), managed by Future Planet Capital, to support early-stage space companies and bridge the critical funding gap they face.
Grant recipients include:
- Admiral Group Plc: Developing a tool using SAR satellite data to assess subsidence-related insurance claims risk.
- Citigroup: In collaboration with Earth Blox, creating a geospatial and satellite data tool to measure corporate nature-related impacts.
- Equitix Limited: Partnering with Sust Global to develop AI-powered climate models for renewable energy resilience.
- Foresight Group: Enhancing nature and climate risk management for 600 assets with satellite-derived insights.
- Level E Research Limited: Creating an AI Risk Index for environmental impact assessments in investments.
- Octopus Investments Ltd and Treeconomy Ltd: Developing satellite-based tools for nature-based carbon project investments.
- Safe Earth Solutions Ltd: Developing financial derivatives underpinned by Earth Observation data.
- Shipping Strategy Ltd: Using satellite data to improve risk scoring for maritime insurance.
- Sports City Management Company: Developing AI-enabled solutions to optimize fan travel at the Etihad Campus.
- WieldMore Investment Management Limited: Integrating satellite data into financial models to assess environmental risks.
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