The ESA Council of Ministers meets this week in Seville to approve the programme plans of ESA and especially the budget allocations. EARSC has issued a statement supporting the ESA proposals and especially those linked to Future EO, Copernicus 4.0, In-cubed+ and for Global Development Assistance. These are all very important for our sector.
Studies have shown that for every €1 invested through ESA, a return of €3.8 is generated for the Member State. But for Copernicus, the benefit is a great deal higher as government is not only a sponsor but also a key user of the products and services which are generated. As a result, this benefit rises to €10 in socio-economic for European society in return for every €1 invested.
The EO services sector is crucial to delivering these returns. This is illustrated through 2 studies which EARSC has conducted and is conducting. The first looks at the European EO Services industry sector through our biennial survey of the industry. The industry comprises over 515 companies throughout Europe, with 8,400 employees delivering over €1.2b of revenue. The sector is growing at a rate of 10% per annum. The report is available on our web-site.
In this we find that the government sector makes up 65% of the revenue base for the sector. Of this 15% is for R&D actions and 50% represents government buying services to meet its own needs. Now maybe up to half of the R&D spend will also be in support for meeting government needs so we can safely say that more than 50% of the market is to meet government geospatial needs – ie government as a user. It also means that government provides around 10% of the total sector revenue as a sponsor for the sector. It is highly important to clearly distinguish these two roles.
In the study - SeBS; Sentinel Benefits Study - we work to analyse cases where Sentinel data is being used operationally to deliver benefits to a whole value chain; at the head of which is what we refer to as the Primary User. Our approach is to look at the use of a single product or service by this primary user and how that impacts along a value-chain. We have looked in detail at 8 cases so far which show a combined socio-economic benefit of over €200m per annum. But, in most of these the full potential has not yet been reached and both market and technology development will increase the use and value of the services. For these 8, we can identify a minimum potential of an additional €100m.
Furthermore, each case is based on one country and by extending the service to other countries, the benefits will grow significantly. We do not yet have enough evidence to support the further geographical extrapolation but it does seem to more than support the 10:1 benefit ratio given at the outset and can most likely justify an even higher figure.
As we analyse more cases, we plan to address the question of extrapolation and we shall also extend the consideration of benefits to other dimensions such as better regulation, innovation and entrepreneurship creating new jobs and the contribution to scientific advancement. These will go along with the socio-economic benefits and also the socio-environmental ones.
The European EO services industry works alongside ESA to exploit the investments made in the upstream sector. The subsequent downstream benefits are significant, and we really encourage ESA ministers to support the ESA investment plans and agree the new programme proposals to be tabled in Seville. The stakes are high to maintain a European lead in the sector but then the return on investment to Europe is very high.
The Melbourne cup had just been run and some 300 delegates were living the excitement of the race, standing around, sipping wine or juice and discussing business. This was the focal point and culmination of a year-long effort to prepare a strong, European industrial participation in the GEO Plenary in Canberra. It was a great success and enormous thanks to Eva, Phil and Graeme of Frontiersi, our partners in Australia and to Natassa and Rory from the EARSC team.
Prior to the race itself, 5 European and 5 Australian companies had presented themselves and after the race, a B2B event was arranged where each had a table at which to sit and meet prospective business partners. These tables seemed to be very busy for a long time into the afternoon. I hope some business relationships will emerge from those talks. I was really pleased to hear that this had indeed been the result for at least one company following the B2B event held last year at the GEO Plenary in Kyoto.
The last week has been the GEO week in Canberra and I am on my way back to Brussels. It has been a good week for EARSC with a number of successful events. We had 10 companies that were in Canberra under the EARSC delegation and as many as 10 further European companies which also participated through national delegations or through projects. We had been working with Frontiersi since the venue was announced and also with the Australian space agency in order to maximise their meeting opportunities throughout the week.
This year, the efforts of the Australian hosts to engage the industry were great. The industry track, introduced for the first time, included a much more extensive exhibition than had previously been the case, a number of dedicated workshops to gather industrial views and of course the EU-Australian business meeting held around the Melbourne cup.
Next years plenary will be held in South Africa in Port Elizabeth. Although we do not have a partner this time, we do have a number of good contacts in the South African Space Agency. We have assurances that the industry track will be maintained and made even better and we shall hope to take even more European companies to the 2020 GEOweek. Where else can you have the opportunity to meet with geo-aware representatives from 109 countries around the world? Further, if industry starts to attend in force, it can become a primary, global event in the calendar where global stakeholders and industry can meet to discuss business.
However, a message to my industrial colleagues, do not think of this as a sales event. It is not, it is a marketing event where you need to go to understand the clients needs. It will be pointless to list off all the products and services which you can offer. The chances of making a direct connection are rather long. But if you consider it an entry point into those 109 countries then it offers the potential to help you in export business and to develop international partnerships. Plus, if it develops in that way, other public representatives from the 109 countries will also be encouraged to attend which will make the meeting even more interesting.
As EARSC, we shall seek to maximise the opportunities which you may have to engage and to expose your company. For all who were there, let us have your views and feedback on what was good for you and what could be improved. There is a strong will within the GEO community to engage more with the private sector and a recognition that industry has a strong role to play in creating the Global Earth Observation System of Systems; serving society globally. As industry, we have a great opportunity to shape the relationship and create business partnerships. I look forward to seeing you next year in Port Elizabeth!!