Objectives of the service
SMART intends to provide the feasibility study of an innovative communication services based on Earth Observation (EO) data in the Green domain, with the mockup of a related platform which can facilitate the generation of scientific media content to be communicated in the climate change domain. It aims at increasing public awareness of climate change and citizens active participation in local authorities' green transition plans/policies.
The project idea started from the problem of current limited media content and services, resulting in fewer climate change awareness initiatives. International institutions, scientific entities, and local governments face similar challenges, needing digital services to disseminate climate science. Large amounts of scientific and socio-economic data need to be presented clearly, often through interactive platforms, to raise climate awareness and to emphasizes facts over deductions.
Users and their needs
Several customer segments have been identified by the SMART project, as they could take concrete advantages from the SMART services and products:
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Media/communication sector, which is represented by the main stakeholder directly involved in SMART from the beginning of the project, namely RAI Pubblica Utilità (RAI), located in Italy.
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Research and scientific community, that has similar necessity in terms of the need to communicate the results achieved, including those communities dealing with climate science and environmental climate impact. UNIBO-DISCI department has been directly involved as sub-contractor from the beginning of the project to represent this segment and to contribute to user requirement analysis and to the design of a content creation component of an interactive platform.
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Local governments and their consultancy companies (like ART-ER for Emilia Romagna Region, located in Italy) involved in public communication activities about green transition promotion.
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The European Association of Remote Sensing Companies to share the SMART idea inside this relevant industrial space community
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International entities that have a strong necessity to be more communicative about their projects, their actions, their results and about the way they spend the received funds.
Service/ system concept
The SMART service has been conceived in the unique combination of technological assets for climate data and information exploitation, climate science content and results and expertise in communicating climate contents in consistent and, at the same time, simple way.
The high level system architecture is composed by three levels:
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Level 1: The proposed service is mainly fed by the company's ongoing initiatives related to climate impact and climatology, which involve the use of Earth Observation (EO) data, climate models, and socioeconomic data in environmental and urban domains.
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Level 2: SMART leverages external experts and collaborators to develop content with visual and communicative narratives tailored to various contexts and audiences. These contents will be created, evaluated, validated and then published and disseminated by means of the digital component of tan e-framework with customized user interfaces.
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Level 3: Through interaction with the interfaces, the created products will be distributed in a targeted manner to various stakeholders, including customer communities and users belonging to specific market sectors, ensuring that the solutions offered are relevant and useful for each group's needs.
Space Added Value
The space assets which are used include:
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satellite imagery and earth observation data collection
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climate model
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reanalysis output
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socio-economic data.
Current Status
The project started at the beginning of November and the following activities are in progress:
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Stakeholder/user analysis and identification of a priority list
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Definition of the engagement activities towards the identified users of the priority list
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Assessment of the existing interactive platform based on earth observation data for media communication purposes
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Preparation of a communication package for user engagement and for project dissemination
Prime Contractor(s)
Subcontractor(s)
