Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates Space Agency and Bayanat have signed a partnership agreement to develop and operate a geospatial analytics platform for the Spatial Data Center, one of the transformation projects announced by the Government of United Arab Emirates.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi space debate, under the patronage of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The platform is expected to be fully operational by Q4 2023.
Under this agreement, Bayanat, a pioneer in AI-based geospatial solutions, will create an innovative ecosystem for Earth observation applications by making the most of large-scale data management and processing capabilities. and creating analytical reports based on Earth observation satellites.
The partnership agreement was signed by Salem Butti Al Qubaisi, Director General of the United Arab Emirates Space Agency, and Hasan Al Hosani, CEO of Bayanat in the presence of several officials and employees from both parties.
Peaceful use in the space sector
Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technologies and President of the UAE Space Agency, said, “At the UAE Space Agency, we are keen to promote peaceful uses in the space sector and to deploy big data, data science. and space technologies at the service of humanity to address sustainability challenges and find practical solutions to overcome them.
“The platform aligns with the UAE’s key strategic goals of empowering the space services industry and its applications; and encourage their use in a way that helps increase the efficiency of government work and the competitiveness of the private sector,” she added.
Knowledge economy
Al Qubaisi noted, “The signing of the partnership agreement with Bayanat is in line with our vision and our strategic objectives to involve the private sector in our national initiatives and projects to advance all its components.
“Through this platform, the UAE Space Agency will drive the growth of space applications and value-added services that enable and support the private sector. The signed agreement is a key catalyst in achieving the Space Data Center’s goals of providing an innovative ecosystem to leverage space data and technologies to address global sustainability challenges and increase the number of startups and patents in the world. space industry,” he added.
Bayanat will operate a platform that will be developed using the latest artificial intelligence technologies to analyze the data and benefit from the results to improve human life and advance the components of the knowledge economy.
Roadmap
Al Hosani, for his part, said: “Our partnership with the United Arab Emirates Space Agency is the start of a roadmap that will contribute to finding solutions to the various challenges of the space ecosystem, within the framework of our strategic goals to harness our technologies for innovation. and leadership in the space sector, which has much to explore.
“Advances in space applications and space information are certainly helping to improve our daily lives and providing valuable data to track and monitor natural disasters and risks, and from this perspective, we will continue to work with the United Nations Space Agency. United Arab Emirates to ensure the improvement and further support the development of the local and global space ecosystem,” he continued.
Competitive space economy
The Spatial Data Center geospatial analytics platform will help meet key requirements of the transformation projects announced by the Government of the United Arab Emirates, as part of its efforts to embody the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister. of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, to focus on creating the most active and best economy in the world.
The UAE Space Agency aims to facilitate access to satellite data for scientists, researchers, government and private institutions, startups and community members, to develop solutions that support national challenges and in the form of spatial data applications and value-added services (VAS). In addition to its role in promoting international cooperation and partnerships.
The geospatial analytics platform will include a “marketplace”, which will allow startups, small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs to design, develop and market space applications and value-added services. The platform is expected to be fully operational by Q4 2023.