Bringing together 80 participants from over 10 countries, the workshop focused on actionable insights from the leaders in EO-powered services.
Novi Sad, 14 – 15 July 2016 A regional workshop “Accelerating EO-powered businesses and market take-up” took place on 14th – to 15th July in Novi Sad, Serbia. The event was held as a part of the project GEO-CRADLE, funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme. It was hosted by InoSens, with support from Eurisy, the National Observatory of Athens, and the European Commission.
The event brought together key players from public sector, academia and innovative SMEs to consider challenges, opportunities, and new approaches in Earth Observation on a regional scale.
TWO DAYS OF IDENTIFYING CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND INNOVATIVE APPROACHES IN EARTH OBSERVATION
In the past decade, Earth Observation (EO) has emerged as engine of change to address critical global challenges: manage limited resources, monitor the environment, as well as predict and respond to climate changes.
Against this background, the first day of the workshop explored regional success stories as well as areas for improvement of EO-based services in the Balkans. It provided various organizations along the EO value chain with firsthand insights into existing regional capacities and end-user needs, and the opportunity to discuss future possibilities. One of the workshop aims was to introduce the potential of EO to the startup and SME ecosystem.
The GEO CRADLE Novi Sad Workshop offered participants a unique opportunity to take part in diverse sessions important for regional stakeholders, including current best practices and EU financing options.
The following day was an internal session for the GEO-CRADLE Consortium. International experts and project partners shared their experience and discussed opportunities for strengthening cooperation at regional and European level.
THE EVENT ALLOWED FOR NETWORKING BETWEEN VARIOUS KEY EO PLAYERS FROM DIFFERENT BALKAN COUNTRIES
Being in the same room facilitated forging of professional links in the EO community on a regional scale to share their lessons learned and present their recommendations for accelerating EO-powered businesses and market take-up. In addition, experts from Europe, Middle East, and North Africa were present to share their experiences and find synergy with Balkan actors.
Igor Milosavljevic, Business Developer at InoSens and a moderator of the second session said:
This is the first time I see something like this in the Balkans, particularly because the regional EO community is highly fragmented. The community has in common the interest to develop practical geo-based services with real impact in the public and private sectors. What made the event particularly fruitful were different yet complementary perspectives we bring on the subject, as academic and research organizations, or SMEs. I recognized opportunities for long term beneficial relationships resulting from this event.
ABOUT GEO-CRADLE
A Horizon 2020 project, GEO-CRADLE brings together key players in the Balkans, North Africa, and Middle East, and the entire EO value chain. The project aims to promote the uptake of EO services and data in response to regional needs, particularly in the areas of climate change, raw materials, food security, and energy.
GEO-CRADLE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 690133.
Download the GEO CRADLE Novi Sad press release – English.
Download the GEO CRADLE Novi Sad press release – Serbian.