Public agencies safeguard society, including citizens, the economy, and infrastructure. These agencies are currently undergoing digital transformations, moving from legacy equipment to data-enabled services. This shift is essential to enhance government efficiency. These agencies face challenges such as urbanization, extreme weather events, natural disasters, cross-border migration or cyber criminality. They need a digital transformation to effectively protect, prevent, detect, and respond to a multitude of challenges.
Space services are well-positioned to support this transformation. Many services are already integrated into various aspects of civil protection, including border control, maritime surveillance and disaster and emergency preparedness and response. These services enhance the ability of public agencies to manage and mitigate the impacts of these challenges.
Telecommunication network services are key in addressing these challenges as they run secure critical infrastructure and governmental services. When these sectors only rely on land-based solutions for critical infrastructure, they can be vulnerable to systemic points of failure caused by natural disasters, human-made disasters, or cyberattacks. Satellite communications are essential for reducing these risks, as they offer secure standalone transmission capabilities that support and strengthen terrestrial networks.
Other satellite technologies such as Earth observation (SatEO) and satellite navigation (Satnav) are critical in managing crises. Earth observation data assists agencies in emergency response and decision-making by monitoring disasters, migration flows, critical infrastructure, or extreme weather events. Satellite navigation can further aid these data, providing precise positioning and timing in various areas, such as civilian protection, humanitarian operations, traffic safety, and secure financial transactions.
ESA promotes several collaborations with public/private actors to prioritise developing satellite capabilities for new services and applications, transforming the public sector. Successful collaborations between ESA and public/private actors include initiatives such as Govsatcom, Iris, and the European Data Relay System (EDRS).
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