IES organizes training course for key decision-makers on Earth Observation and Remote Sensing

On the 17th and 18th of October the Institute for Environmental Solutions (IES) in cooperation with European Space Agency and Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia organized high-level training course for key decision-makers “Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Solutions for Strengthening Business Competitiveness and Making Strategic Decisions”.

During the recent years the world’s biggest Earth Observation (EO) programme Copernicus has launched a high-end satellite fleet Sentinel. It delivers free-access data on up-to-date information about terrestrial, freshwater, marine and ocean ecosystems that can help to support and boost the development of various industries. The aim of the training course was to broaden key decision-makers and business executives understanding of practical opportunities provided by EO and remote sensing data and technologies. The training was conducted by international team of EO and remote sensing experts, including representatives of European Space Agency, Belgian research organization VITO, companies Planetek Hellas (Greece) and Earth Pulse (Spain), Institute for Environmental Solutions and World Wildlife Fund for Nature.

15 representatives of different sectors participated the training. They studied how EO data and technologies can be used in their fields for development of new technologies and services, strategic decision making and improvement of efficiency. Among the training participants were senior executives from Maritime Administration of Latvia, State Joint Stock Company “The Free Port of Riga”, State Joint Stock Company “Latvian Railway”, Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia, State Joint Stock Company “State Real Estate”, State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia and companies Stora Enso Wood Supply,  Metsa Forest Latvia etc.

One of the training participants Deputy CEO for The Free Port of Riga Development Matters Edgars Sūna shared his opinion about the training: “for me this was the first experience with this kind of information about opportunities provided by EO and satellite data. Definitely, I can see a practical use of them in operations of “The Free Port of Riga”, for solutions related to security, infrastructure and environmental protection.”

Training included theoretical lectures, discussions and practical workshops on EO data and possible usage in different public and private sectors. First part was dedicated to global interconnectedness and its impact on business decision-making, climate change and declining of natural resources, as well as how it affects social and economic sustainability. Participants were able to observe EO and remote sensing in five dimensions – data gathering, processing, speed of analyses and usage, amount and other characteristics. Second part of training was dedicated to currently existing applications of EO and remote sensing in public and private sectors, as well as potential of their use in development of business and growing economy.

Raivis Ošis, production department manager of the forestry company SIA “Metsa Forest Latvia” gave the following feedback on the training: “In business you have to evolve all the time. If we take the current situation of human resources in Latvia, it is clear that we have to learn how to improve productivity. EO and remote sensing could be a great way of doing that, since it provides fresh opportunities, valuable data and technologies, but we must to know how to use them. Things I learned in these two days will push me to think towards the future. And I think that everyone who participated this training course will come up with new ideas for improvement of their businesses and represented industries.”

The high-level training course for key decision-makers “Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Solutions for Strengthening Business Competitiveness and Making Strategic Decisions” is a part of the European Space Agency programme’s “Plan for European Cooperating States” project “Expanding Earth Observation Awareness Among Key Decision-Makers (ExpandEO). Project is led by Institute for Environmental Solutions.

Find out more about ExpandEO project here.