CopernicusLAC Panama Centre

About

CopernicusLAC Panama Centre About

About

About the CopernicusLAC Panama Centre

The Copernicus Latin America and Caribbean Panama Centre (CopernicusLAC Panama) is a regional hub which will enhance the resilience of the Latin America and Caribbean countries by supporting their spatial data management capacity and strategic use, in a region particularly vulnerable to climate change-induced weather events and geohazards. The Centre’s key objectives within the LAC region are:

  • Fostering the use of space-based information and the regional uptake of Copernicus open data and services.
  • Developing regional capacity to process Sentinel data and use Copernicus products for decision-making.
  • Developing EO services to support Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Risk and Recovery Mapping in close cooperation with national and regional LAC organisations, and fostering links among the LAC Earth Observation (EO) and DRR communities.
  • Serving as a hub for the development and use of EO products tailored to the specific needs of the LAC region.

The Centre is setup in the framework of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance and hosted by the government of Panama. The European Space Agency (ESA) is coordinating the Centre’s implementation through a Contribution Agreement with the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) of the European Commission, and in partnership with Panama’s government, MIRE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Government Innovation Authority (AIG), and SENACYT (National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation).

To achieve the objectives, the main activities of the CopernicusLAC Panama Centre include stakeholder and user engagement, knowledge and skills transfer (through a tailored training and capacity building programme), co-development of EO-based geospatial pilot services in close cooperation with local users and stakeholders and the pre-operational demonstration of these services, and finally, support to the development of a high power and cloud computing infrastructure. The Centre will also develop entrepreneurial support activities through EU-LAC Hackathons and industrial matchmaking events, as well as community-building activities.

The development of the CopernicusLAC Centre stakeholder engagement and capacity building activities is supported by a consortium led by Novaspace, a world leader in consultancy services in the field of space applications, and includes ALSO Space, a Belgian consultancy specialising in user engagement and outreach, Indra, a Spanish aerospace and defence industrial conglomerate with significant presence in the LAC region, and CS Group, a French IT company with significant experience in the setup and operation of cloud-based online training environments.

In addition, to ensure that the unique needs, requirements, gaps, and priorities of the region underpin the development and direction of the pilot services, their development is based on stakeholder consultations and will be tested for validity through various use cases. The pilot services will leverage EO data to complement existing regional systems while helping to increase the benefits to local communities.

The development of these thematic pilot services is supported by a consortium led by Indra, and includes the German Aerospace Center (DLR), CIMA Research Foundation, an Italian environmental monitoring centre focused on Disaster Risk Reduction activities, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), ALSO Space, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, WASDI, an IT company specialising in the development and deployment of cloud-based Earth Observation analytical platforms, Terradue, an Italian IT consulting firm specialising in Earth Sciences, GEOAPP, a SME with expertise in the use of geospatial data for risk assessment, Geoville, a leader in satellite-based land monitoring, and Athena Global, which supports the user engagement and development activities.

Finally, the implementation also foresees technical assistance and development of tools for scoping, designing and the initial setup of a Copernicus Data Centre in Panama, in cooperation with the local government and AIG (in charge of hosting the infrastructure). These ensure a privileged access to Copernicus data to users in the region, while supporting the operational Disaster Risk Reduction applications developed in the framework of the CopernicusLAC Panama Centre, as well as the federation of the Panama Centre with the CopernicusLAC Data Centre in Chile.

This activity is carried out by Terradue, the University of Chile, and T-Systems, the German prime contractor of the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem.

About the Global Gateway

The activities of the CopernicusLAC Panama Centre are developed within the broader context of the European Union’s Global Gateway, an EU strategy to strengthen health, education, and research systems around the world through sustainable investments and partnerships. Through the Global Gateway, projects are carried out in collaboration with local stakeholders in partner countries around the world to generate lasting benefits by promoting smart, clean, and secure links in the digital, energy, and transport sectors.  

Global Gateway partnerships are based on six principles:  

  1. Democratic values and high standards 
  2. Good governance and transparency 
  3. Equal partnerships  
  4. Commitment to green and clean initiatives 
  5. Emphasis on security  
  6. Catalysing private sector investment 

The activities of the Global Gateway help to narrow the global investment gap and provide opportunities which benefit both EU countries and their global partners. With up to €300 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027, the EU is supporting the development of local infrastructure and economies. This strategy also enables the private sector in EU Member States to invest in partner countries while upholding the highest environmental and labour standards. The Global Gateway is aligned with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement. 

About the EU-LAC Digital Alliance

The CopernicusLAC Panama Centre activities take place within the broader context of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance. Launched in March 2023, the Alliance serves as a key component of the implementation of the Global Gateway in the LAC region and supports the EU in forming sustainable connections with partner countries. It provides a strategic framework for promoting bi-regional cooperation on digital and space issues. The implementation of the Alliance involves not only governments, but also private stakeholders, international finance institutions, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, civil society, and academia. 

The EU-LAC Digital Alliance promotes: 

  • A large EU-LAC network of trade, political, and cooperation agreements
  • Increased public-private cooperation, with the EU as the number one investor in LAC
  • A sustainable and inclusive digital transformation, including high-speed connectivity, for increased productivity and growth
  • A human-centric approach to digital transformation which prioritises good governance, transparency, and accountability  

One of the key focus areas of the Alliance is “Space & Satellite data”. Under this initiative, the establishment of two regional Copernicus Centres has been planned, one in Panama and the other one in Chile. These Centres will support LAC countries in accessing and leveraging geospatial data to address the many challenges stemming from climate change and to increase resilience through improved Disaster Risk Reduction services and applications.

Learn more about the EU-LAC Digital Alliance in this factsheet. 

About Copernicus

Copernicus is the Earth Observation component of the European Union’s Space Programme. It provides free and openly accessible information services that draw from satellite and in situ (non-space) data. The data provided by Copernicus supports public authorities, industrial and SME service providers, and international organisations.

Copernicus is served by a set of dedicated satellites (the Sentinel family) and Contributing Missions (existing commercial and public satellites). The Sentinel satellites are specifically designed to meet the needs of the Copernicus services and their users. Since the launch of Sentinel-1A in 2014, the European Union set in motion a process to place a constellation of almost 20 more satellites in orbit by 2030.

The Copernicus services transform this wealth of satellite and in situ data into value-added information by processing and analysing the data into easily accessible datasets. These activities are streamlined through six thematic services:

Copernicus is managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with EU Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), EU Agencies, Mercator Ocean International, the European Environment Agency (EEA), and the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC).