Earth observation in support of the SDGs: Trends from the Humanitarian and Development sectors

Abstract:

Earth observations provide unique insight in planning, tracking progress, and monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a national, regional and local level. With a focus on the development and humanitarian sectors, the Space Enabled Research Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and Secure World Foundation created a project to draw insights from practitioners about the real-world case studies as well as opportunities and challenges for expanding the use of Earth Observation in efforts to achieve the SDGs. Space Enabled and Secure World hosted a series of webinars featuring presentations by topical experts, in-seminar data collection through live poll questions, audience Q&A, and post-seminar surveys to gain insights into their respective work, challenges they may face, and new initiatives. Importantly, the webinar series aimed to reach beyond the Earth observation community to identify trends in the utilization of Earth observation to support in-situ data, how national governments and developmental organizations collaborate and partner with data-providers such as space agencies, unique considerations taken to validate, customize and combine data, and potential technical and legal barriers that limit the operational use of Earth observations by decision-makers, project managers, and development partners. While many of the participants noted that they were aware that Earth observation is being utilized in some projects, participants also highlighted challenges such as overcoming the technical limitations of data processing and visualization, and the lack of training resources on how to efficiently manage large datasets. Preliminary findings from the questionnaires and polls show that the most common barriers when using satellite data to provide better information to policy makers to affect change is the lack of political motivation to shift policies based on new data, followed by the lack of funding to shift policies based on new data, and finally the lack of access to data. The presentation summarizes the collection of diverse viewpoints and opinions from a multi-sector community that need to be addressed to ensure that Earth observation can be used effectively and enable countries to monitor and manage their progress towards their SDG targets.