Click to add titleDigital Earth Africa

Aditya AgrawalSenior Advisor

DE Africa Establishment Team@D4DInsights

Click to add titleMobile Devices

Big Data

IoT Platforms

Cloud Computing

Autonomous Vehicles

Artificial Intelligence

Cybersecurity

Augmented Reality

Systems Integration

A Connected World

(Image by Daily Star)

Click to add titleFundamental ChallengesTechnical• Data quality and gaps• Data are not dynamic or

disaggregated

• Data are not current• Data are not accessible or open• Systems are not interoperable

Institutional• Institutional cooperation is

lacking• Need for additional funds and

resources

• Data literacy and capacity development

• Policies enabling sharing data and open data

• Public-Private-Partnerships

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(Photograph by USAID)

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(Photograph by WWF)

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(Photograph by US News)

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(Photograph by LA Times)

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(Photograph by Agra)

Click to add titleNational, Regional and Global Demand

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DEMAND

TECHNICALINSTITUTIONALPOLICYRESOURCESCAPACITY

Click to add titleAddressing the Demand

Countries have expressed a need for better access and capacity for applying Earth observation (EO) data to national development priorities, the 2030 Agendafor Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063.

Click to add titleAfrica Regional Data CubeA data cube provides analytically ready data across decades allowing for easily accessible geospatial analysis on key environmental issues. The initial focus for the data cube will be on algorithms to address agriculture and food security and will be implemented for Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal, Kenya and Tanzania. Launched in May 2018 in Kenya.

Click to add titleDigital Earth Africa

Vision: Digital Earth Africa will provide a routine, reliable and operational service, using Earth observations to deliver decision-ready products enabling policy makers, scientists, the private sector and civil society to address social, environmental and economic changes on the continent and develop an ecosystem for innovation across sectors.

Click to add titlePhase I Project ObjectivesBuilding off the experience with the Africa Regional Data Cube and other open data cube deployments globally, Phase I of this project developed the business case for Digital Earth Africa by:

• Developing a coalition of partners and investors;

• Undertaking public communications including significant stakeholder engagement and workshops

• Identifying the key political, institutional, financial, capacity building and technical issues and opportunities

• Understanding the landscape to identify alignment opportunities

• Build awareness, buy-in and approach for Phase II

• Identify potential funding sources for next phase

Click to add titleOperational Data Cube for All of Africa• Operational Data Cube for whole of Africa

• Regular decision ready product / not research

• Automated, run for every pixel for entire continent

• Levering off other ODC developments

• New institutional home- (Host TBD)~30 staff

• Flexible cloud/HPC Infrastructure

• Funded for production of product and capacity building/App development

• Multilateral effort, not owned by one country

• Interoperability allowing for connections with other platforms to share data, algorithms and functionality

Click to add titlePhase I Highlights• Broad support for DE Africa

• 18M USD has been committed by the Helmsley Charitable Trust and Australian Government.

• A host institution has been identified. Will require a consortium of partners based in Africa with mandate on the uptake of geospatial and earth observation data.

• There is an opportunity to align programs of a similar nature.

• A strong focus on capacity building will be key to the success of the program and require further partnerships.

• DE Africa will be interoperable and complementary – meant to align with other programs and address some issues around fragmentation.

• Use cases and case studies have already been identified including learnings from the ARDC. Much more engagement with countries will be needed.

Click to add titlePhase II – Setting the Foundation• Establish Governance, Hosting and Staff

• Board and Advisory Committees• Hosting agreement with UNECA• Recruitment

• Country and Stakeholder Engagement• Information sharing and alignment• Needs, priorities and requirements• Partnerships

• Technical Implementation• ODC infrastructure and roadmap• Analysis Ready Data – USGS, JAXA, etc.• Cloud infrastructure

• GEO Plenary – Showcase (Nov ‘19)

Click to add titleDE Africa 3 Year Strategy

YEAR ONE Setting the Foundation

Developing the strategy and vision Implementing against the governance

framework Establishing institutional hosting arrangements

and office Recruitment of DE Africa staff Building the DE Africa data and ODC

infrastructure Delivery of 1 continent-wide beta data product Developing a Communications and Outreach

strategy inclusive of an Africa-wide launch event

Stakeholder engagement strategy Establish key partnerships with in-country

enablers and others Alignment strategy DFAT Investment Design

YEAR TWO Building Capacity & Uptake

First DE Africa Annual Users Meeting Product roadmap 3 continent-wide data products DE Africa Office fully staffed Regular training and capacity building

program in place Engagement at the country level on uptake of

developed data products An increased ability at the country level to

exploit DE Africa data and tools Study outlining the economic value

of EO data for Africa Increased high-level political engagement Co-investment from additional philanthropic /

aid agencies including in complimentary activities including on-ground

YEAR THREE A Developing Ecosystem

5 continent-wide data products Case studies on the impact of EO data

on policy and coordination mechanisms at the country level

A developing business case for direct country-level investment based on delivered value

Data from DE Africa is independently ingested into new, innovative applications

Sustainability plan for continued operations of DE Africa