Φ-week shines a spotlight on epicentre of innovation at ESA
ESA is organising a Φ-week event at its Earth observation centre in Frascati, Italy from 12-16 November 2018. Focusing on New Space and especially its applications to Earth observation (EO) the week will review latest developments in New Space investment. The week will focus on EO, whilst acting as an epicentre for all space activities, including other space domains.
The week will also kick-off a series of innovative activities through the recently-created Φ-department and Φ-lab, to shape the space agenda on AI, blockchain, virtual reality and quantum computing.
The event brings together emerging space Investors, tech leaders, start-ups and entrepreneurs with the space scientists and Earth observation researchers who are developing the potential space business ideas of tomorrow.
Φ-week events range from inspiring talks and traditional scientific workshops and roundtables to hackathons. These events will connect multi-disciplinary communities to explore how New Space, open science and innovation can benefit from the latest digital technologies. They will also help to shape future EO missions and services.
Keynote speakers will discuss issues such as developments in launchers, integrating drone and EO satellite data, the Earth observation geo spatial evolution and levers of the new space economy. The final day of the week will focus on space for business.
In parallel, a 3-day Φ-Week Bootcamp will give budding entrepreneurs and researchers the tools to create their own space start-up. The themes for this year are space, food and energy.
Φ-week will be a lighthouse for emerging innovation and the rapidly changing landscape of the EO science and technology arena. It will highlight some elements of how ESA will develop Future EO Capabilities and ESA’s plans to operate as a springboard for innovation by creating an environment where new ideas can be sand-boxed to seed new partnerships, for example in the new Φ-lab.
The week-long event is designed to enable networking and generate new opportunities, but will also seed ideas for new ventures and applications by demonstrating how emerging technology can be harnessed to bring data applications to life in new ways.
