Hacking Climate Change: Tech for Sustainability

Well, who doesn’t want to save the Arctic? Over the last number of years, we have seen more and more of our work become focused on space technologies, and the value they can add to our business processes, enabling greater efficiency across a number of areas. The functions of this new SpaceTech also lend themselves to improvements in sustainability practices, unlocking opportunities to consider new areas of environmental science which were previously not feasible with the technology available. When the opportunity appeared to host the CASSINI Hackathon in Spain (The flagship action of the European Commission’s Competitive Space Start-ups for Innovation Initiative), we considered ourselves the ideal candidates.

 

The focus of this event was on the development of solutions based on space technologies that contribute to combating the effects of climate change, with special emphasis on such a vulnerable area as the Arctic. Participants tackled the challenge of their choice using one or several of the following tools:

 

1. Geospatial information from Copernicus Earth observation data and its services

2. Positioning technologies from Galileo & EGNOS

3. Secure connectivity technologies to conceptualise solutions for the future

 

The level of solutions developed was, on average, extremely high, and for the most part, focused on the optimisation of maritime routes and the conservation and protection of fauna and flora.