The alarming levels of spread and COVID-19 led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a pandemic outbreak. During March 2020, Italy was one of the most affected countries in the world. The European Space Agency (ESA) then launched the funding initiative “Space in response to COVID-19 outbreak”, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Italian ministries. A webinar held on Wednesday 12^th January showcased the outcomes of some of the projects started under this initiative.

The funding call was co-funded by ASI for €10 million to support the best projects and received an extraordinary response. More than 120 outline proposals were received, out of which 24 projects were implemented. Companies from 16 countries responded to the call. The projects were conceived not only to address the unprecedented challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic but to also improve preparedness for future outbreaks. The Final Presentation Day hosted by ASI was opened by Elodie Viau, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications (TIA) at ESA, with representatives from the Italian Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition, and the Italian Ministry for Education. This was followed by final presentations of six of the 24 implemented projects, which focused on addressing key challenges in the healthcare and education sectors.

“The global health emergency has highlighted the importance of digital technologies and data to support our daily lives and manage the outbreak of COVID-19. I am happy to see how these projects have allowed local authorities, medical personnel and communities at large to reduce the risk of spreading the virus,” stated Dario Malerba, Technical Innovation Project Manager, Department for Digital Transformation (Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digitalisation). The three health-related projects presented at the Final Presentation Day included:

• EPICO-19: a web application supporting public health technicians and decision makers in managing the COVID-19 outbreak, allowing them to predict the spread of the outbreak in terms of cases, hospitalisations, deaths etc., based on a machine learning engine. The EPICO-19 system was tested during the Pilot in the Reggio Emilia province, the most affected one by the COVID-19 in Emilia Romagna, thanks to the end user Reggio Emilia Health Authority. The Authority provides healthcare and public health services to the 42 Municipalities of the Reggio Emilia province, with a population of 535 000 inhabitants.
• CO.DE-19: an automated delivery service allowing the user, intended as a hospital organisation, to manage more risky medicines for which fewer personnel are involved hence the lower the risks of contamination of COVID-19. A high precision, multi-constellation GNSS receiver is set on board of the drone. The project has been completed with the collection of feedback from the medical staff of the Spedali Civili of Brescia, pilot user of the service. The personnel expressed satisfaction and added value in doing their daily tasks more efficiently and safely.
• SATWORK: this service utilises a mobile vehicle equipped with medical equipment and telemedicine capabilities, implementing screening activities to detect who is infected with COVID-19 in industrial areas or in small communities so to ensure business continuity. The ability to detect the virus early became one of the most crucial elements in slowing the global pandemic. SATWORK relies on the utilisation of several space assets, namely satellite communications and satellite navigation, specifically the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

In addition to the theme of healthcare, the funding call also invited projects to submit applications related to education. “I am happy to see how these projects have used the topic of space to inspire children during the pandemic”, commented Elisa Pintus, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the Minister for Education. “The effects of this global emergency are especially felt in children and may result in heightened feelings of anxiety and worry, as well as isolation. The possibilities of e-learning, remote provision of training and education for teachers and students, as well as social ‘virtual’ interaction to engage pupils have proven to be great ways to support children during the most difficult periods of the pandemic.” The three education-related projects presented included:

• Space for Children: an innovative medical edutainment experience, based on Interactive Reality solution and playable by smartphones and tablets with iOS and Android operating systems. Through interactive mini-stories, Space for Children allows young users to acquire fundamental information about the difficult context in which they find themselves (coronavirus outbreak), during their isolation time (for quarantine restriction) in a healthy and educative way, by interacting through an engaging and entertaining storytelling with the protagonists and their stories.
• DreamCoder 2.0: a browser-based platform, which aims to train tomorrow’s future space explorers (e.g. schools and individuals) with a capacity building tool including a Python Code Editor interacting with a ground-based board mirrored on the International Space Station (ISS).
• Space Edu Park: this interactive platform offers teachers, students, and headmasters an innovative and gamified e-learning framework based on space assets and augmented & virtual reality experiences.

“I am always inspired and energised hearing the passion of the companies that we support. Today was a treat, with six of the 24 projects from the ‘Space in Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy’ cohort,” added Nick Appleyard, Head of ESA Space Solutions. “We are grateful for the strong support of the Italian Government’s ministries and ASI, without which we at ESA would not have been able to mobilise this help for both doctors and children.”

“Future initiatives, to be pursued in the context of the ARTES programme as well as the ESA accelerators will showcase even more broadly the role that connectivity and digital technologies will play in key sectors like mobility, sustainable infrastructures and education, contributing to a resilient, inclusive and sustainable society,” concluded Elodie Viau, Director of TIA at ESA.

Participants in mass participation sports events, such as triathlons, and their supporters can now receive their photographs within seconds from AWOL Adventure thanks to an ESA Demonstration Project. The satellite-enabled service drastically reduces the time lag associated with processing race images without sacrificing speed, accuracy or quality.

AWOL Adventure, based in Lancashire, UK, ran trials of its new Sports Event Live Photography service during summer 2021, having received funding from ESA in September 2020. Since its first event in June 2021 – the AJ Bell 2021 World Triathlon Championship Leeds, organised by British Triathlon – AWOL has delivered over 1 500 000 quality-controlled images within seconds, removing the typical post-event wait for images.

The Live Photography service has multiple photographers sited around the course, who transmit their photographs via a EUTELSAT satellite link to AWOL. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is used to provide highly accurate time and location tags for each photo. AWOL then employs its artificial intelligence (AI) image recognition system to identify participants, based on facial and other characteristics, such as gait, plus the athlete’s chip and race number. 

The processed images are sent to people registered as followers of the tagged athlete through push notifications, emails or SMS alerts.

Using satellite communications links avoids service issues associated with sending high volumes of data via mobile communications, such as patchy signals at busy locations and non-existent signals due to terrain. GNSS tagging not only helps associate the photographs with the correct athletes, but also offers links with third party platforms such as Strava. 

Speed is of the essence

During the course of the Demonstration Project, AWOL has provided photography services at events of increasing size and complexity as its technology has matured.

The Live service has seen a massive leap in engagement with event photography by participants and their families and friends. During the Therme Manchester Marathon in October 2021, AWOL delivered over 250,000 images to a record number of participants within 8 seconds of them being taken. The result was a 250% increase in post-event engagement and sales.

“Since launching our world-first Live Photography in June 2021, we have gradually embedded the new technology with both large and small sporting events in the UK and Europe,” says Rich Burnett, Chief Operations Officer at AWOL Adventure. 

“We are rapidly scaling up our technology and are now capable of deploying more than 30 live cameras from anywhere on an event course, regardless of the availability of timing locations and other infrastructure. The satellite communication and GNSS elements are key to making this work, as they let us deliver live photo bundles in real-time to participants and supporters under any conditions. As such, the ESA Demonstration Project funding has been invaluable.”

Elena Razzano, Business Applications Engineer at ESA, adds: “Many people take part in large sporting events every year and as well as the buzz of taking part, they are also making memories that they want to preserve through photographs of the event. Now they and their supporters can capture those moments immediately, thanks to AWOL’s new technology. This is a great example of how a combination of satellite services can be used together to provide a greatly enhanced service and provide a new business opportunity.”

The initiative launches Genoa as the capital of the ecological transition, a pilot project that accelerates green digitisation towards a more sustainable and resilient city.

A Memorandum of Intent was signed this morning (18th January 2022) between the Municipality of Genoa, European Space Agency (ESA) and Enel Italia. The cooperation focuses on promoting the development of applications that use space to accelerate green innovation and improve the quality of life of citizens through sustainable economic development, accompanying the transformation of the city and its socio-economic growth. The parties will make available their skills and engage in joint actions to achieve the shared objectives and accelerate the development of innovative on space-based applications related to the blue economy, green mobility, port, and infrastructure development.

The strategic agreement for the city includes kicking off a series of related activities in January to support Genoa’s regional waters. Genoa will be the finishing point of the next edition of The Ocean Race in 2023 – an event which has a strong focus on sustainability. 

“We have joined this project with conviction and enthusiasm. The company is strongly committed to the development of renewable energy sources and is always looking for new environmentally friendly technologies,” said Nicola Lanzetta, Director of Enel Italia. “Our contribution, combined with knowledge of the area, technological innovations and the experience of other stakeholders, will bring undoubted benefits to the city of Genoa and its regional waters, as well as shared value for all stakeholders."

“I am pleased to announce this successful collaboration which will unlock new cross-sectoral cooperation opportunities to establish innovative space technologies and applications to accelerate green innovation for sustainable cities,” said Elodie Viau, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA.

"We are proud that Genoa has been chosen as the pilot city for this project,” declares the Mayor, Marco Bucci. “Every action that encourages innovation and improves the quality of life is essential for the city of the future. This memorandum represents an important opportunity for collaboration between the Municipality of Genoa, Enel and the European Space Agency. The comparison between the three different realities will make it possible to merge skills and visions for the achievement of common objectives. I thank Enel and ESA for choosing Genoa as the first city in Italy to implement a project of this type, a decision that honours us. With today's signature we are starting an exciting journey that will open up new horizons of growth and development".