The countdown to
Mobile World Congress (MWC) has started – just a few days left until the gates open for over 100.000 geeks and mobile enthusiasts to join one of the biggest tech conferences in Europe.
This also means that the annual Space App Camp @MWC is getting closer – you haven’t heard of it yet? Let me share the story with you.
Space is down to Earth
In a nutshell: Crazy big amount of satellite images from space + high performant database => perfect opportunity for creative start-ups to reinvent how business is done with new solutions.
To elaborate on that: SAP and the
European Space Agency (ESA) tied the knot between each other exactly a year ago at Mobile World Congress 2016, in the form of a partnership facilitated by the
Center for Digital Leadership team in SAP. The partnership brings the companies and their networks strategically closer to each other in the areas of technology and innovation.
Let the games begin!
To implement the theory and paperwork into practice, the partnership continues this year again with the
Space App Camp which has called out for start-ups from the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) incubation hubs across Europe that use ESA’s Earth observation data from the Copernicus Space Program on top of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform. After a careful selection process driven by the Anwendungszentrum (AZO), 5 start-ups made it to the finals and they will be competing each other in a pitch battle on the 28
th of February at the SAP booth on the Mobile World Congress.
What to expect?
In this year’s line-up we can see high potential start-ups which target with their solutions in different industries such as Healthcare, Agriculture, Engineering, Media & Entertainment. Each team will have 10 minutes to convince the jury and 5 minutes to answer the challenging questions about how they imagine to disrupt with their spatial data-based solutions.
Future of space and in business
Many would think using satellite images is a far away concept from daily business and has few relevance to the classical industry spectrum, but the collaboration between SAP and ESA has proven exactly the opposite of this belief. The possibility of linking satellite data with business-specific requirements is bringing exciting new market opportunities into various areas such as urban planning, disaster protection and agriculture just to mention a few.
As for a concrete example check out the SAP Earth Observation Analysis, which
was launched in late 2016; in this 2 minute video you can get a better understanding on how satellite data contributes to positive changes in the insurance industry with the help of spatial data and predictive analytics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJmaA4b0gfs
Have space in your calendar?
Applying Earth observation data in the business is not anymore considered as far future, it is already happening and disrupting the practices we refer to “business as usual”.
SAP and ESA are definitely a frontrunner in this space – stay curious and come along with us on this journey, where the next stop is Mobile World Congress. Find out who is bringing home the big cheque and wins further opportunities to scale their solution. The pitches start on the 28
th February at 13:00 CET, SAP booth theatre, and we announce the winner at 16:30 CET. You are also very welcome to join the winner and the other finalists for a toast right after.
Until then - Follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date and get the latest about how the start-ups progress. #SpaceAppCamp #digitalleadership
Rahel Herczeg & Oguzhan Genis
@CarstenLinz
@OZZYGENIS
@Rahel_Herczeg
@PhaniDhawesome
@vladopavlov
@IvonaSto
@FaipoIrene
@CortiSylvia
@EnglerAZO
@CopernicusEMC
