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After having selected 14 new FabSpaces in various countries worldwide at the end of 2017, the FabSpace 2.0 project officially inaugurated the first joint activity of the fourteen new FabSpaces during the FabSpace 2.0 Workshop on Sharing Practices to Spread the FabSpace Spirit. The workshop was held in the Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer Management of Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland. During the workshop, three key words were used as the main focus: Innovation, Simulation, and Earth Observation (EO). FabSpace 2.0 project aimed to stimulate (open) innovation in Earth Observation (among universities, civil society, corporates and public authorities) to make our planet a better place to live in by connecting EO (experts/data/SW) to other communities.

This workshop also placed a specific aim on sharing practices regarding operational and local awareness strategy. In this respect, the FabSpace 2.0 consortium stands ready to assist in the development of a comprehensive growth strategy for the new FabSpaces. The new FabSpaces will help consolidate the FabSpace 2.0 project’s mission all over the World, disseminating the services and helping to address the needs of final users of Earth Observation and geodata-based applications.

Upon officially inaugurated, each FabSpace could offer a “Space Science Shop” service that collects the needs and the societal challenges of external stakeholders (Civil Society Organisations, Public Authorities and Companies), linked to application domains of EO and satellite navigation uses (i.e., Agriculture and Forestry, Energy, Environment and resource efficiency, Intelligent Transport Systems, Smart cities, Health and well-being). The scope is to provide independent participatory research support in response to concerns experienced by external stakeholders, offering a demand-driven and bottom-up approach to the FabSpace facility and screening questions provided by these stakeholders. On behalf of EXCELSIOR, Dr Kyriakos Themistocleous, Stakeholder Manager of the project, represented CUT during the meeting in Poland.

One of the new FabSpaces manager, Prof. Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis from ERATOSTHENES Research Center, Cyprus University of Technology said:

“  The ERATOSTHENES Research Center is excited to have joined the FabSpace 2.0 project. We believe that the FabSpace 2.0 network shares our goals and vision to develop and promote innovative Earth Observation applications and services using open spatial data and geo-information technologies. This provides the ERATOSTHENES Research Center at the Cyprus University of Technology (School of Engineering and Technology) within the EXCELSIOR project (www.excelsior2020.eu) with the ability to become an open innovation centre in the Eastern Mediterranean region and improve its contribution to the socio-economic and environmental performance of Cyprus through the development and application of innovative Earth Observation applications, products and services. We believe that FabSpace approach brings a significant added-value in the promotion of new EO based applications and paves the way for the creation of new start-ups providing job opportunities and professional growth for students and researchers, establishing a mutually beneficial relationship in Europe and beyond.”

EXCELSIOR at the Copernicus Agriculture Workshop in Brussels

EXCELSIOR attended Copernicus Agriculture Workshop in Brussels in order to further develop opportunities for integrating Copernicus data and Copernicus Services to support agricultural end-users. The Workshop gave the opportunity to different stakeholders from the agricultural sector and the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service to provide information for products that can be relevant to this domain. It also posed an excellent opportunity for EXCELSIOR to interact and network with international stakeholders and share its aspirations and objectives.

EXCLESIOR meets with the ambassador of Israel in Cyprus

The new ambassador of the Embassy of Israel in Cyprus, Mr Shmuel Revel, during his official visit to CUT, has been informed about the research activities and existing and possible collaborations with Israeli academia and industry. Within this context, the ambassador met EXCELSIOR, which was presented as one of the key strategic collaborations with Israel in space technologies and Earth Observation.

Scientific contribution of NASA to the creation of the ERATOSTHENES Center for Excellence

ERATOSTHENES: a hub for space technologies and Earth Observation in the region

EXCELSIOR and the Cyprus University of Technology welcomed Dr Vincent Ambrosia, NASA expert, at the “Tassos Papadopoulos Hall” on Wednesday, January 24th, within the context of the ten year celebrations of the Cyprus University of Technology. Dr. Vincent Ambrosia is the Associate Program Manager in the NASA Applied Science Program and a member of the External Scientific Advisory Committee of EXCELSIOR. With his scientific expertise he will be a key member in the creation of the ERATOSTHENES Center of Excellence to conduct high quality basic and applied research in areas related with Earth Observation and remote sensing.

The lecture of NASA’s expert Dr Ambrosia, on “NASA mission: Earth Observations” attracted the interest of students, the general public and professionals in space technology, Earth Observation and telecommunications. The speech was addressed by the Rector Professor Andreas Anayiotos and the Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs and Scientific Coordinator of the EXCELSIOR project, Professor Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis, who thanked the speaker for their long-term cooperation. The Rector stressed the importance of Research activity that is enhanced through the EXCELSIOR program and the international projection of the University achieved by such events. Moreover, he highlighted the full support and contribution of the University to the successful establishment of the ERATOSTHENES Center of Excellence (ECoE) in space technologies and in Earth Observation through the research project EXCELSIOR funded by the HORIZON2020 WIDESPREAD (Teaming Call).

The lecture was delivered as part of the broader activities of the EXCELSIOR Research Project (ERATOSTHENES: Excellence Research Centre for Earth SurveiLlance and Space-Based MonItoring Of the EnviRonment). NASA’s scientific advice through the collaboration of Dr. Vincent Ambrosia with the ERATOSTHENES Research Centre at the School of Civil Engineering & Geomatics of the Cyprus University of Technology counts three years and with his position in the Advisory Committee of the program, his presence in Cyprus and the contribution of NASA to the scientific excellence of the ERATOSTHENES Center is very important.

You can watch the lecture here: https://youtu.be/yR7C-gm9y4g.

EXCLESIOR held its second Internal Meeting with Partners

EXCELSIOR project partners met in January 22-24, 2018 to discuss further the progress of the project and decide on the next steps. During the meeting, presentations were made regarding the next steps of the project from all partners: Cyprus University of Technology, acting as the coordinator, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), the National Observatory of Athens (NOA), the German Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works (MTCW) of the Republic of Cyprus, through its Department of Electronic Communications (DEC).

Also, important players in the Industry and Entrepreneurship Sector presented the benefits resulting from their collaboration with the EXCELSIOR project, placing the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence as a strategic partner in their action and strategic planning.

EXCELSIOR at HORIZON 2020 Cyprus National Event» Work Programmes 2018-2020 • Towards FP9

EXCELSIOR team attended event “Horizon 2020 Cyprus National Event: Work Programmes 2018-2020” aiming to inform researches and innovative businesses about the opportunities arising from the Horizon 2020 funding scheme for 2018-2020. The event was addressed by the Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades who commented on the economic benefits of the realization of Horizon programmes in Cyprus, stating that ‘for every euro it contributes to the programme Cyprus takes back more than three.’

Prof. Hadjimitsis presented during this event in the ‘SPACE’ session the activities of the ERC for the last 10 years in Εarth Οbservation, as well the EXCELSIOR Teaming project by highlighting the importance of space technologies and earth observation at the national, regional and European level. During this event, Dr K. Katzis (European Universiity of Cyprus) and Dr A. Agapiou (ERC, CUT) national contact points presented the existing funding opportunities in Space.

http://www.research.org.cy/el/news/invitation-horizon-2020-cyprus-national-event

The ERATOSTHENENES Research Center is pleased to announce that it has become an associated partner to the FabSpace 2.0 Project, led by Université Paul Sabatier, which aims at fostering co-creation of innovative Earth Observation applications by enabling Universities to become Open Innovation Centres for their region.

The FABSPACE and EXCELSIOR project can work together to foster innovation EO solutions, support further business development, as well as exploit, sustain and disseminate EO applications and services.

ERATOSTHENES strongly supports the concept of creating a network of partnering Universities in many European countries for sharing good practices regarding educational programs and business mentoring as well as innovative application ideas developed by interdisciplinary project teams, based on using a free geo-information platform to access and process Earth Observation data and geo-spatial data.

We believe that the FabSpace approach brings a significant added-value in the promotion of new Earth Observation based applications and paves the way for the creation of new start-ups, providing job opportunities and professional growth for students and researchers, establishing mutually beneficial relationships in Europe and beyond.

What is FABSPACE 2.0

An open-innovation network for geodata-based innovation – by leveraging Space data in particular in Universities; A one-stop shop-access to Space data and a wide range of other data as well as free software and data processing tools to develop new digital applications.

https://www.fabspace.eu/

The Department of Electronic Communications (DEC) of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works (MTCW) of the Republic of Cyprus, the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK) and the Cyprus University of Technology co-organized a Stakeholder Meeting on “Space technologies and Earth observation’s benefits for Cyprus and Eastern Mediterranean”, on Wednesday 13 December in the Senate Room at the University of Technology Cyprus, in Limassol.

The National Stakeholders meeting of EXCELSIOR project was organized on Wednesday, 13 of December, 2017 in the Senate Room. The meeting which was attended by representatives from the Public and Private Sectors, the Academia and the Industry, covering multiple sectors such as Engineering, Technology, Topography, Architecture but also Culture and the Environment. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the benefits of the establishment of the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence (CoE) which will be established through the realization of the EXCELSIOR project for Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as to map the needs and limitations in the use of space technologies.

The meeting which forms part of a more elaborate and specific meetings that will be co-organized from the EXCELSIOR and supporting partners, was addressed by Georgios Komodromos, the Director of Department of Electronic Communications (DEC), Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works (MTCW) of the Republic of Cyprus. Mr. Komodromos stated the full support demonstrated by the Ministry towards the objectives and goals of EXCELSIOR and its importance for the future of the Electronic Communications in Cyprus. The contribution of the CoE in the fields of Research and in the creation of new innovative services and products, the Centre will place Cyprus on the international map for Earth Observation.

On behalf of ETEK, the member of the Administrative Committee, Mr Ntinos Nikolaidis, congratulated EXCELSIOR and the members of the ERATOSTHENES Research Centre for their work and contribution in highlighting the significance of Earth Observation for Cyprus. Regarding the collaboration between his organization and ERATOSTHENES he mentioned that ETEK fully supports the effort that has been initiated for the establishment of an autonomous and dynamic Centre of Excellence in Cyprus which will benefit all Cypriot Engineers with the provision of information, data and the development of new products and services.

The Rector of the Cyprus University of Technology, Prof. Andreas Anayiotos, greeted the collaboration between the ETEK, the statutory Technical Advisor to the State and the umbrella organization for all Cypriot Engineers with the ERATOSTHENES Research Centre and the EXCELSIOR project, since members of the ETEK can benefit from the multiple integrated uses of remote sensing and space-based techniques for monitoring the environment. Moreover, Prof. Anayiotos stressed that the University has already committed to support both financially and in providing infrastructure and in kind contributions, to the Centre of Excellence which will be established during Phase 2 so that all its objectives are met. Professor Christis Chrysostomou, Vice-Rector of Economic Planning and Development of Cyprus University of Technology was also present at the meeting and expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the stakeholder engagement.

Finally, a short address was delivered on behalf of the Limassol Municipality, by the Vice-Mayor Mr. Nikos Sykas, who stressed the support to EXCELSIOR from the early beginning and its benefits for the city where the new Centre will be established, mentioning the development opportunities and the job openings for more than 200 researchers, scientists, engineers and administrative staff.

During the Meeting, Dr Kyriakos Themistocleous, Stakeholder Manager of EXCELSIOR, presented the ways in which interested parties can be affiliated with the new Centre offering a variety of opportunities for collaboration. The Coordinator of the project, Prof. Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis, made a presentation of the fields of activity that the new Centre will focus which include, inter alia, the Environment, Agriculture, Archaeology, Defense and Security, Water Management, Meteorology, Atmosphere, Electronic Communications, Forestry, Civil Defense etc. He also spoke about the importance of Open Data, like the SENTINEL from Copernicus and underlined that the project is fully aligned with the Smart Specialization Strategy of Cyprus in many areas, significantly enhancing the impact of the targeted regional and national investments, namely, Environment and ICT.

The Senior Researcher of CUT, Dr Kyriacos Neocleous and the Project Manager of EXCELSIOR, Dr Rodanthi– Elisavet Mamouri, presented the EXCELSIOR questionnaire to the participants which aimed in mapping the current needs and limitations in using space technologies. The participants discussed their organizations’ needs and conversed with the ERATOSTHENES researchers for the benefits of their collaboration with the Centre.

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During the Ten Years Celebration of the Cyprus University of Technology, Prof. Hadjimitsis had the opportunity to introduce the EXCELSIOR project and bring to Prof. Nanopoulos’ attention the work that ERATOSTHENS research Centre has been doing the past ten years. Prof. Nanopoulos was specifically informed for the benefits of the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Earth Observation in Cyprus and wished the team, the best of luck during the Phase 2 of the project.