The Data Cube Service for Copernicus (DCS4COP) project established a novel service, integrating Sentinel data, Copernicus Service data, and user supplied data in a Data Cube-based system. The services developed during the project comprise Processing as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), consultancy and training. Target customers of the tailored services are businesses as well as governmental and international organisations and authorities.
Capitalising on the scientific achievements of precursor scientific and methodological developments, specifically on the highly accurate water quality products derived in the FP-7 funded HIGHROC project, a comprehensive operational service for coastal and inland waters named EODataBee has been established and is now offered to customers. The value of satellite Earth Observation data for environmental monitoring has been successfully demonstrated in several applications with potential customers. The combination of access to high quality data, wide selection of thematic Data Layers from satellites and other data sources, state-of-the-art Earth Observation processing and analysis tools, analysis readiness of these data layers in form of data cubes, unrivalled expertise in the coastal domain, and cutting-edge IT solutions at competitive costs has been proven to be highly attractive to users across Europe. In particular, the EODataBee team offers tailored services to optimally meet customers’ requirements by selecting from a portfolio of different services including visualisation, API access, virtual laboratory, direct data access. Finally, the service may be closely integrated into existing business processes to maximise the customer’s benefit and to minimise inefficiencies and inconsistencies.
The EODataBee website at www.eodatabee.eu is the best starting point for potential customers of the service to get a first overview of the service’s capabilities. Website visitors may familiarize themselves with EODataBee’s web viewers, which disseminate the information of operational demonstration services, and learn more about successful EODataBee applications, some of which also offer free web portals to be explored. Developing an individual solution for a specific use case is then done in direct exchange between the customer and the EODataBee team.
EODataBee is attractive to customers because it offers a high-quality turn-key solution for individual use cases at affordable costs, much lower than mastering the learning curve for own developments. It has therefore a large potential to boost the value-adding market and expand its reach to many companies and organisations. The DCS4COP consortium has optimally used the project to establish EODataBee as an attractive service on the market, could already win first paying customers in the market introduction phase of DCS4COP, and is looking forward to further grow EODataBee as a sustainable service in the future. The main objectives of the project, to boost the uptake of Copernicus data, particularly for water applications, and to build a sustainable business around cloud-based services for water monitoring, have thus been fully achieved.
