An industry-led Forum for Innovation and Research in European Earth Observation

Project Information

FIRE

Grant agreement ID: 869634

DOI

10.3030/869634

Project closed

EC signature date 15 October 2019

Start date 1 December 2019

End date 28 February 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 989 081,25

EU contribution

€ 989 081,25

Coordinated by

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF REMOTE SENSING COMPANIES
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FIRE (An industry-led Forum for Innovation and Research in European Earth Observation)

Reporting period: 2021-07-01 to 2023-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

FIRE – European Forum for Earth Observation – is a Horizon 2020 project successfully implemented between December 2019 and February 2023. It set off to (1) develop a strategic roadmap for research and innovation in the Earth Observation (EO) sector and took upon the challenge to (2) closely involve non-EO actors to ensure this roadmap addresses the current and future needs of key commercial sectors and the society.

Why Earth Observation? EO data and services have the potential to make a hugely positive impact on societal, economic, environmental, and industrial challenges faced on a global and European scale. Furthermore, EO is widely recognised as a key enabling technology for working towards the 2030 sustainable development goals.

How? Over the three years of action, the project established a community of (potential) users of EO technology across different industries, namely agriculture, infrastructure, marine and maritime, raw materials, urban development, and wind energy. These sectors are of high priority for society and were selected based on their market importance and their increasing need to innovate to efficiently address the rising pressure on competitivity and the environmental sustainability.

FIRE organised its work around four interrelated objectives. First, FIRE developed and animated a community of research and innovation actors – innovators, policymakers, technologists, businesspeople and researchers. FIRE provided the space, time and methodology needed for fruitful exchanges, which in turn allowed the project to gather critical and up to date knowledge on the markets, mapping the EO uptake in these different sectors. Second, FIRE successfully engaged both EO and non-EO experts, bridging the gap between providers of EO services and professionals of six FIRE industries which can use these and future EO capabilities to their benefit, solving pressing challenges in their sectors. Third, FIRE nurtured exchanges between these groups to design a long-term Research and Innovation Strategy so that Earth Observation can continue supporting key European industries and ambitions. Fourth, a strong communications strategy and a robust sustainability plan were implemented to achieve a maximum impact of all FIRE activities.

What is the main outcome of the project? FIRE has successfully achieved its aim to build a strong community and a well-defined process which have been crucial in delivering the strategic research and innovation roadmap. Moreover, the community created by the project has become self-aware of its great value and potential and will be maintained beyond project’s lifetime. Similarly, various aspects of the methodology designed by FIRE will continue to be applied in the future.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

FIRE started its activities in December 2019 with the official Kick of Meeting (KOM) in January 2020 just preceding the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was redesigned and adapted, carrying out further activities digitally or partially digitally from February 2020 until the end of the project in February 2023.

FIRE animated and encouraged the exchange of the community with multiple tools, notably by organising two rounds of FIRE Focus Group discussions and three FIRE Fora events and by developing a FIRE portal for sharing knowledge. Crucial to the success of these interactions was the engagement of commitment of the so-called ‘sector leads’ – organisations with extensive networks, ties, knowledge and experience within FIRE focus sectors. Throughout the 3 years, FIRE partnered with 7 sector leads.

FIRE Focus Groups were thematical smaller expert meetups typically bringing together 10-15 professionals from one of the target markets and the EO industry. They allowed for nuanced exchange of views, knowledge and information, identification of gaps and challenges of each sector and the Earth Observation capabilities in addressing them. In total, during the two rounds of six Focus Group discussions (Autumn 2020 and Winter 2022) FIRE gathered the needs of 147 industry experts from 18 European countries.

Each workshop round was followed by a larger event in a conference format – the FIRE Forum event. Each forum gathered around 400-500 industry professionals, Earth Observation experts and policy and market development executives. In total, three FIRE Fora events (June 2021, June 2022, February 2023) were organised, attracting 2137 registrants and effectively bringing together 103 speakers and moderators, and 1347 attendees. The FIRE Forum event in June 2022 could take place in a hybrid format, therefore benefitting from both aspects – the accessibility of an online format and the benefits of physical networking and exchange.

To bridge the gap between the Earth Observation and target sector communities, FIRE also designed a novel ‘EO Evangelist’ programme. FIRE selected seven ‘EO ambassadors’ who attended sectoral events to exchange directly with the professionals, further discuss any gaps or issues the sector experiences and encourage the adoption of EO solutions. Each ‘EO influencer’ was reaching out to one of the FIRE focus sectors. Overall, EO Evangelists promoted EO benefits, the FIRE project and benefitted from exchange with the industries at more than 12 events.

The main outcome of the project and the most tangible result of the consultations and activities described above is the FIRE Roadmap, or rather a set of six sectoral FIRE Roadmaps. FIRE Roadmap is an analytical document consisting of a roadmap for each sector and a detailed chapter for transversal challenges. The project has paid special attention to the successful, strategic and sustainable dissemination of the results of the FIRE Roadmap.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

FIRE had a significant strategic impact due to the importance of such cross-sectoral activities bringing the EO community together with non-EO actors, therefore helping to bridge the disconnect between the supply and the demand side of the EO market. Moreover, FIRE provided the platform for converging perspectives of different communities from these sectors – practitioners, researchers, policy makers, industry representatives. The results of these discussions, exchanges and building of understanding of each other’s priorities, challenges and capabilities will influence the future work and results of all the involved parties.

FIRE success highlighted the need to pursue these stakeholder matchmaking efforts in the future, as the benefits for further EO uptake and return on investment in the EO technology are important. Actors involved in the project have already committed to continuing the collaboration, while FIRE methodology will be potentially reproduced in other sectors in the future.

Concretely, multiple elements or outputs of FIRE will be continuously utilized in the future. FIRE Roadmap and its sectoral focussed parts will continue to be exploited by the involved parties. Similarly, the EO Evangelists programme and concept will be carried on by FIRE partners and current EO Evangelists. The FIRE sectoral videos also represent a useful material which helps grasping EO benefits and provides knowledge which does not expire together with the project.

The overall success of the project and its sustainability activities, in particular, have served as a catalyst for the consortium to maintain their support for the FIRE ecosystem and explore avenues to capitalize on the project's accomplishments in the future.

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