Agencies and research organizations from GEO Members categorized as Developing Countries by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are eligible to apply for the Geo-Amazon Earth Observation Cloud Credits programme for non-commercial projects.
The GEO-Amazon Earth Observation Cloud Credits Programme offers developing countries access to free cloud services to help with the hosting, processing and analysis of big Earth observation data for sustainable development. Using Amazon Web Services, the credits being made available are intended to enable government agencies and research institutions to build Earth observations applications that support environmental and development goals, including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
$1.5 million worth of cloud services available for projects that improve understanding of our planet. Eligible applicants can apply for up to $100,000 of Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud credits for projects that support environmental and development goals – including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through this collaboration, AWS will provide cloud services to help host, process and analyse large geospatial data sets for non-commercial purposes, prioritizing projects that make use of open satellite data.
Eligible projects:
Proposals will be evaluated against the following criteria:
- Applications should outline innovative projects that will use cloud computing services and any free, open, multi-source Earth observation space and in-situ analysis-ready data.
- Projects must identify tangible deliverables that enhance national capacity to comply with global policy mandates (such as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Paris Agreement on Climate Change, or Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction).
- Given the broad scope of issues addressed by these global policy initiatives, projects should demonstrate an approach that combines both interdisciplinary (involving collaboration of scientists/technology developers from at least two disciplines) and transdisciplinary (integrating the natural, social and economic domains together with relevant scientific and technological disciplines, societal groups, stakeholders and users) components in the research and applications phases)
- Projects should feature opportunities for co-design, co-production and co-implementation with local stakeholders. Projects should demonstrate an intention to transition from research to practical application and show impact that is translatable to other contexts and the wider community.
- Projects should address how they intend to support the GEO Work Programme. The GEO Secretariat will consult with the GEO Programme Board to determine how projects will feature within the GEO Work Programme.
- Data and software used and developed in the course of the project, along with best practices, should be made fully and freely open and accessible to the wider GEO community, in compliance with GEOSS Data Sharing Principles, and will ultimately form part of the GEOSS platform.
Cloud services help countries host, process and analyse big Earth data to inform better decisions and policies.
Here’s an example: the recently-launched Africa Regional Data Cube builds on Australian technology to enable five countries in Africa to inspect changes to any geographic area over the past 35 years. The technology provides users with an analysis platform for satellite imagery to address key development challenges, including food security, disaster risk management, coastal erosion and urban expansion. AWS cloud credits have been provided to the five countries involved for three years to reduce the data storage, processing and analysis burden.
Application deadline is Application deadline: 31 March 2019. Click here to apply.
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