Over the years, geoinformation, i.e. earth observation and data collection, has taken on an increasingly important role, and even more so since the start of the pandemic. The acquisition and, above all, the use of this type of information could, therefore, prove to be a winning factor for institutions and companies alike. This process has accelerated significantly through the development of cloud computing and the implementation of big data.
Leonardo’s e-Geos (80% Telespazio and 20% ASI) has just launched CLEOS, a digital marketplace addressing small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. We therefore spoke to Paolo Minciacchi, CEO of e-GEOS and Head of Geoinformation of Telespazio, to learn more about CLEOS and the far-reaching value it will deliver.
Why have you developed CLEOS and what does the platform do?
On 23 September 2020, we organised an intercontinental event to present CLEOS, involving a network of international partners spanning Australia, North and South America, Europe and the Far East. The development of CLEOS as the ‘platform of all platforms’ began a few years ago, with the aim of making the Space Economy increasingly accessible – simply and intuitively – to e-Geos and to every member of the Telespazio group. With CLEOS, all our skills, services and data stored over the years – collected by satellites, as well as by other sources – can be pooled and shared with professional and academic users, institutions and SMEs, with the greatest of ease, just like in an online store. This is even more important at a time like this, when the pandemic is restricting interpersonal contact with users, associations, research centres and institutions globally.
Why is CLEOS revolutionary in the world of geoinformation?
CLEOS has been defined as the ‘platform of all platforms’ because, over the years, we’ve been able to identify and build a series of vertical services that meet both institutional and market needs. For example, our services make it possible to monitor the land, infrastructure, agriculture and precision farming; but we also have services that monitor the marine environment and others that are linked to the secret services. Our goal is to make these services instantly available. The revolution stems from technological development, which enables us to have access to an extraordinarily high amount of data. In the world of AI, data analysts can work on large amounts of data to produce very specific reports. We had already noticed that demand was moving more and more from imaging to reporting, providing the ability to extract targeted information to satisfy real demands. We are at a revolutionary stage, in which tools and technology enable us to obtain information more readily, but also more precisely. With CLEOS, we have entered the world of big data analytics and artificial intelligence – the geoinformation market’s most important and difficult challenges in the coming years.
What benefits and services does the CLEOS platform offer users and developers?
CLEOS works on two fronts. Firstly, it serves as a commercial channel that makes use of new technologies to reach thousands of users simultaneously and all over the world. Anyone can register and sign in to CLEOS, and therefore purchase data and services online. This makes it possible to reach market sectors that were previously unthinkable. The second important point is that we are seeing an increasing trend towards private – and not just institutional – investments in geoinformation. Information, therefore, is starting to become pervasive, and an open platform like CLEOS can be filled with content, expanding the available information base and consequently boosting the market. In essence, a vast amount of data is aggregated and filtered through specific algorithms and made more readily available than in the past, through the use of advanced technologies.
Why is CLEOS an open platform?
CLEOS has been given an open architecture for two different reasons. The first is so that it can collect third-party technologies, applications and content. For example, Italian SMEs specialising in climate information can choose to join CLEOS in order to grow and gain access to an otherwise difficult-to-reach international market. The same applies to academic and research institutions. The second reason concerns content: in addition to the content for which we are exclusive distributors, such as COSMO-SkyMed, special distribution agreements also make it possible for us to grant access to the content and images of other operators. Furthermore, the CLEOS technology allows integration with other platforms developed by third-party operators.