Programme

Setup of scope and aims for the Stakeholder meeting – preparation of the declaration and understanding priorities for African and European stakeholders. Welcome addresses of the main organizers from the African and European side.

• Hugo Costa, Director, Portuguese Space Agency
• Tidiane Ouattara, Space Expert and GMES & Africa Coordinator, AUC

Session with African and European scientists outlining key thematic challenges on which EO can play a substantial role in addressing gaps and opportunities through applied research and targeted downstream services, in support to the objectives of the African Agenda 2063.

Moderator: Mark Dowell, Project Leader - Scientific and Technical Support to Copernicus, DG JRC
Rapporteur: Miguel Bello, CEO, AIR Centre

09h15 – 09h40 Marine (10’ presentation + 15’ Q&As)

• Hayley Evers-King, Marine Application Expert, EUMETSAT
• Eric Martial, GMES & Africa project manager, Mauritius Oceanography Institute

09h40 - 10h15 Land (15’ presentation + 20’ Q&As)
1. Agriculture and Food Security 2. In-land waters 3. Soils 4. Forests 5. Biodiversity

• Alan Belward, Deputy Director, DG JRC
• Catherine Nakalembe, Assistant Research Professor, University of Maryland – GEOGLAM

10h15 - 10h45 Climate, Disasters and Atmosphere (20' presentation + 10’ Q&As)
Climate and Disasters (10’)

• Alessandra Zampieri, Head of Unit – Disasters Management, DG JRC
• Ganiy Agbaje, Executive Director, Centre for Space Science & Technology Education (CSSTE)

Atmosphere (10’)

• Pascal Moudi, Centre d'Application et de Prévision Climatologique de l'Afrique Centrale (CAPC-AC)
• Federico Fierli, Atmospheric composition expert, EUMETSAT

Example of applications by public and private institutions in various domains, with a focus on those supporting SDGs or example of successful services to or by private sector.

Moderator: Jolly Wasambo, Coordinator ClimSa – GFCS, AUC
Rapporteur: Michel Massart, Administrator Earth Observation Unit, DG DEFIS

GMES & Africa: the Europe-Africa Flagship initiative (10’)
Focus on overall objective and policy aspects and link to African Strategy

• Tidiane Ouattara, Space Expert and GMES & Africa Coordinator, AUC
• Catherine Ghyoot, International Aid & Cooperation Officer, DG INTPA

GMES & Africa success stories (10’)
Highlight concrete operational services delivered by the G&A Consortia and their benefits.

• Tidiane Ouattara, Space Expert and GMES & Africa Coordinator, AUC

EO in support to Blue Economy in Africa (10’)
Focus on the University of Ghana services to the marine sector enabled by Copernicus Marine services and EUMETSAT Data.

• Pierre Bahurel, CEO, Mercator Ocean International
• Bennet Foli, Oceanographer, Regional Marine Centre – University of Ghana

Q&A (15’)

EO in support to Food Security in Africa (10’)
Focus on one EO-based services to the Agriculture, enabled by Copernicus Global Land with link to GEO GEOGLAM initiative.

• Felix Rembold, Scientific Officer, DG JRC
• Mustapha Mimouni, Head of Remote Sensing and GIS Unit, Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS)

EO in support to Climate and Disaster Resilience in Africa (10’)
Focus on data from meteorological and climate satellite to support on seasonal forecasting and early warning with link to ClimSA Programme.

• Joerg Schulz, Climate Service and Product Manager, EUMETSAT
• Guleid Artan, Director, IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC)

EO Applications and Development Cooperation in Africa (10’)
Focus on ESA EO Application programme with a concrete case study (Urban mapping and planning)

• Benjamin Koetz, Head of Sustainable Initiatives Office, ESA
• Msilikale Msilanga, Resilience Academy Tanzania

Q&A (15’)

Developments of data infrastructure and tools to deal with Earth Observation in Africa – Cloud computing: bringing the algorithm to the data, Data analytics, Digital Twin Earth, EO based e-services, (presentation of DIAS, African Research Cloud etc.) + AI example

Moderator: Catherine Ghyoot, International Aid & Cooperation Officer, DG INTPA Rapporteur: Benjamin Koetz, Head of Sustainable Initiatives Office, ESA

Use of NREN in support to EO (10’)
Focus on Afri-Connect-3 and use of EUMETCast-Terrestrial & possible linked local cloud computing capabilities

• Matthews Mtumbuka, CEO, Ubuntunet Alliance
• Teddy Mwangi, GEO-IT Officer, Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD)
• Vincent Gabaglio, International Relations Officer, EUMETSAT

Joint DIAS presentation (20’)

• Betlem Rosich, Earth Observation Application Engineer, ESA
• Pascal Lazaridis, Project Manager, WEkEO
• Luciano Lupédia, National Space Program Management Office (GGPEN)
• Serkan Girgin, Assistant Professor, ITC

Africa Knowledge Platform and Knowledge Centre on Earth Observation (10’)

• Ivan Kulis, Head of Unit – Knowledge Management for Sustainable Development and Food Security, JRC

Digital Twin of the Earth concept – a new opportunity for Africa? (10’)

• Gordon Campbell, Head of Enterprise Section, ESA
• Paul Counet, Head of Strategy and International Relations, EUMETSAT
• Stephan Siemen, Policy Officer, DG Connect
• Liina Munari, Deputy Head of Unit – Open science and digital modelling, DG Connect

Perspective on African needs on Digitalization (5’)

• Andiswa Mlisa, Managing Director EO, SANSA

Q&A (5’)

This session will focus on what is planned for the future of Earth Observation, looking at systems such as Copernicus 2.0, MTG and the Atlantic Constellation addressing the cooperation between countries and programmes, focusing on interactions between Africa and Europe in this context. Discussion will seek to take into account the needs of the users, central to the application of next generation Earth Observation capacities and programmes.

Moderator: Kizito Odhiambo, CEO, Agribora
Rapporteur: Vincent Gabaglio, International Relations Officer, EUMETSAT

Joint Presentation on MTG (15’)

• Phil Evans, Director General, EUMETSAT
• Mariane Diop Kane, Programme Manager, AMCOMET Secretariat World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Joint Presentation on the Atlantic Constellation (15’)

• Miguel Bello, CEO, AIR Centre
• Stewart Bernard, Chief Scientist, SANSA

Q&A (10’)

Copernicus Evolution and new EO technology (10’)

• Simon JutzHead of Copernicus Office, ESA

African Future Perspective (10’)

• Valanathan Munsami, CEO, SANSA

Q&A (5’)

This session will focus on the all-important issue of capacity-building and how increasing attention and cooperation in this area can help boost innovation and entrepreneurship on both continents. The discussion will look at already-existing initiative and programmes in this area, present success stories, and look to identify areas where more work can be done.

Moderator: Mariane Diop Kane, Programme Manager, AMCOMET Secretariat World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Rapporteur: Marie Menard, Communications Officer, EUSPA

Overview of current capacity-building programmes (40’)
GMES & Africa

• Meshack Ndiritu, GMES & Africa training officer, AUC

Space for IDA (International Development Assistance) – sustainable EO adoption within development finance

• Christoph Aubrecht, Program Coordinator – Global Development Assistance, ESA

FPCUP: EU-initiative to increase Copernicus user uptake – examples from Africa

• Carolina Sá, Earth Observation Officer, Portuguese Space Agency

African Development Bank

• Issa Maman-Sani, Director – Department of Environment & Social Safeguards and Compliance, African Development Bank

Space for food security: the digitalisation of smallholder agriculture - The role of user engagement, capacity building and entrepreneurship

• Ruud Grim, Programme Manager Space for Global Sustainable Development, Netherlands Space Office

Q&A (10’)

Boosting entrepreneurship in Africa – Opportunities for Entrepreneurs (15’)

• Fiammetta Diani, Head of Market Development, EUSPA

ESA BIC in Africa

• Frank Salzgeber, Head of Innovation and Ventures Office, ESA

African space entrepreneurship ecosystem success stories (15’)

• Kizito Odhiambo, CEO, Agribora
• Pierre Traoré, Director R&D, Manobi Africa; Principal Scientist, ICRISAT

Q&A (10’)