Innovate UK Global Alliance Africa is investing up to £180,000 for three innovation projects (£60,000 per project) in a multilateral UK-Africa space sector to improve space technology for sustainability in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, and/or the UK.
The “UK-Africa Space Technology for Sustainability Lead Customer Programme” competition aims to accelerate innovations needed to create new or improved technologies for the sector through UK-African partnerships. Thus, the ideal project must focus on one or more of the following:
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Optimising access to and quality of geospatial data
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- Solutions that decrease the cost of Earth Observation data to end users.
- Solutions that enhance the quality, precision and reliability of available data for decision-making.
- Technologies that facilitate unique and innovative methods for obtaining geospatial data. Including the proposal for new payloads, sensors and missions.
- Systems that optimise the processing and analysis of geospatial data for better decision-making.
- Tools that expand the availability and usability of geospatial data for diverse applications, including data licensing, access, and standards.
- Solutions that aim to unlock historical data for training GeoAI models, including classification and feature extraction, generative AI applications, enhanced mapping and accuracy, and large language models.
- Solutions that enhance the interoperability of geospatial data with data from other sources, such as financial, genetic, and socioeconomic.
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2. Cross-sector earth observation applications
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- Food security and agriculture.
- Water security, including drought monitoring and leak detection.
- Access to finance and credit.
- Financial and reporting. For example, ESG compliance, asset monitoring, and climate risk.
- Solutions to support compliance with the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
- Disaster management.
- Rural and urban planning and development.
- Climate change mitigation.
- Environmental conservation and biodiversity protection.
- Public health.
- Infrastructure and transportation planning.
- Marine and coastal monitoring.
- Renewable energy management.
Kindly note that:
- The proposed solutions can be applied in any economic sector but require endorsement from a Lead Customer (an end-user) who stands to benefit from the innovation.
- Solutions related to mining or minerals applications are not included in this competition.
Funding Type and Project Size
Innovate UK will fund 70% of a total project value of up to £60,000 per project. The project partners must make an in-kind contribution of 30%. Higher in-kind contributions by project partners are encouraged to boost the scale of the projects and will be viewed favourably in the selection process. Therefore, the ideal project must involve at least three countries, including one UK partner and two from Kenya, South Africa and/or Rwanda.
Rewards & Benefits
- Technology Testing & Validation, six-month project: Grant funding of up to £60,000 per project for the UK/African lead registered organisation (subject to T&C).
- Technology demonstration and scale-up, 6-month project: Grant funding of pp to £60,000 for the UK/African lead registered organisation per project (subject to T&C).
- Access to international collaboration and innovation through the UK-South Africa-Kenya partnership.
- Support facilitates industry engagement to seize future commercialisation opportunities and enhance market access.
- Sector expertise support from Innovate UK and Lead Country Partners.
Timeline
- The challenge opens on July 10 2024
- The challenge closes on August 12 2024
In addition, the LinkedIn Network group is open for people to join.
Kindly check here for more information about the scope of the UK-Africa Space Technology for Sustainability Lead Customer Programme, eligibility criteria, data-sharing policy, and application details.
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