In a few of my posts, I’ve mentioned the increasing frequency at which geospatial data is being made available and becoming more openly accessible. we’re not just analyzing static, previously collected and often outdated data anymore. We’re moving into an era where data is live and continuous. We can look at tackling larger issues and work with big data to develop solutions. Here’s one example of what’s happening with regard to the problems we face in sustainable development. It was announced at a UN summit by a company called Planet Labs. Here’s the company description from their website.
“Planet Labs is a startup based in San Francisco, founded by former NASA employees that collects information about our changing planet via a fleet of compact, highly capable Earth-imaging satellites. Planet Labs' mission is to image the entire Earth, every day, and to ensure universal access to this data. The broad coverage and high frequency of Planet Labs' satellite imagery will enable customers unprecedented access to global and local insights that currently are either impossible or cost-prohibitive to obtain. Learn more at www.planet.com and @planetlabs”
On September 28, at a gathering hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) in conjunction with the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development, Planet Labs CEO and co-founder Will Marshall made the commitment that $60 million worth of its satellite imagery would be made openly available and accessible to the global community, resulting in one of the largest philanthropic investments of geospatial imagery ever. This imagery will be a valuable asset in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals), which recently were ratified during the 70th session of the United Nations. You can find out more about sustainable development and the sustainable development goals here.
Leading the initiative to provide awareness of data for these goals is The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. It is a worldwide network of governments, NGOs and businesses working together to strengthen the inclusivity, trust and innovation in the way that data is used to address the world’s sustainable development efforts.
Planet Labs has estimated its imagery can be used to directly or indirectly advance 15 of the 17 Global Goals, and to measure more than 70 of their associated targets by tracking daily environmental change, urban development and economic indicators on a global scale.
This imagery will be made available through a new Planet Labs initiative called "Open Regions," under a creative commons license, and will be accessible directly online through their imaging platform. The imagery can be used to monitor deforestation, measure and combat climate change, and increase food security through increased crop yield, among countless other applications. Planet Labs collects imagery at a resolution that allows for detailed change detection, but that does not violate personal privacy.
I’m excited about the prospects for this initiative and this trend to relevant, global open data. Imagine what we can accomplish.