Forging connections for climate smart solutions
The Earth Observation for Climate Smart Innovation project (EOCSI) recently held its Climate Smart Innovation Hackathon with 88 participants from across Southeast Asia and Australia.
Led by Australia’s national science and geoscience agencies, CSIRO and Geoscience Australia, the project aims to enable local government, business and education institutions to take advantage of Earth observation for the development of climate smart applications.
Participants including students, academics, small business, public servants, and industry leaders were introduced to CSIRO’s Earth Analytics and Science Innovation (EASI) platform which operates in a Cloud environment to give users access to vast quantities of openly licensed satellite data without the need for local storage or supercomputing infrastructure. Users can then interrogate this data to better understand their local natural and built systems, such as tracking urban encroachment, deforestation or coastline degradation.
One team used the Hackathon to explore opportunities to address the decline in coastal ecosystems from rapid urbanisation, increased aquaculture activities and impacts from climate change along the Malaysian coastline.
The team developed a framework for providing Earth observation data to local communities and decision makers to inform more sustainable urban planning, forestry and aquaculture management. The team are looking forward to the next phase of the EOCSI initiative to further develop their idea and test it in market.
CSIRO Centre for Earth Observation Director, Dr Amy Parker, said it was great to see such positive outcomes from the hackathon experience.
“Building connections and capabilities, this initiative is strengthening regional science relations, supporting climate resilience, and promoting sustainable growth and development,” said Dr Parker.
Some of the Hackathon teams showcased their projects on Wednesday 2nd November 2022, 2:00pm – 3:00pm (AEDT), before moving to the next stage of the initiative which will see the teams explore the market opportunities for their products and ideas.
The EOCSI project is funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources through the Supporting Australian Innovation in Asia Initiative, with contributions from regional partners.