The potential benefits of Earth Observation in supporting sustainable developments in Africa is well recognised. Quoting Dr Tidiane Ouattara, on behalf the African Union Commission: “Earth Observation and the monitoring of Africa’s abundant natural resources are important for conserving the welfare of current and future generations. Currently, there is a need to address the huge gap in terms of the requisite infrastructure and critical human resources at all levels to fully realize the potential benefits that would accrue from the sustainable use and conservation of these resources" [1].
The purpose of the EO Africa Dunia Service is to leverage on cloud computing technology for a comprehensive EO data accessibility and exploitation over Africa. The users of the Dunia Service shall have open access to Copernicus Sentinel data, relevant GIS mapping information, Digital Elevation Model, and Applicative Software developed for / by the community over Africa.
The Dunia Service shall contribute to the improvement of data accessibility and exploitation, facilitating the development and operations of applications over Africa by giving access to Copernicus Sentinels data over Africa in formats and protocols adapted to low bandwidth and fast data exploitation.
The Dunia Service shall take full account of the interoperability within cloud computing solutions, leveraging on existing capabilities such as the Copernicus Data Space and relevant Open Science platforms.
Dunia contributes to facilitate the adoption of Earth Observation in Africa, encourage user consultations and related large-scale demonstration projects development, enabling industrial growth and expanding the demand.
In synthesis, Dunia focuses on:
- Datasets over Africa (Copernicus Data, DEM, Openstreet map, among others)
- Application Hub (applicative software developed by the users);
- Frond-end (central point for all exchanges);
- Users support, helping for the adoption of Copernicus data over Africa
Learn more about this Invitation To Tender on the esa-star Publication page.
References
[1] http://gmes.africa-union.org/news-and-information/earth-observation-africa-we-want