The Italian Space Agency (ASI), the subsidiary e-GEOS and BIC Lazio - a company of the Lazio Region - organize a Hackathon dedicated to the use of Earth observation data from the COSMO-SkyMed satellite constellation. Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space Italia are partners of the event, which will be the 28 and 29 November in Rome at the ASI headquarters.
#COSMOsmHack, this is the name of the Hackaton, will be a real "coding marathon", open to all, aimed at the development and promotion of a 'Proof of Concept' (POC) for innovative applications (concept design, mock-up, demo, APP prototype, application web / mobile, etc.) in 4 different thematic areas: Coasts and Seas, Emergency and Security, Cultural Heritage, Agriculture.
The initiative, which brings together the Italian Space Agency, the Lazio Region through BIC Lazio, the regional company that promotes the creation and development of innovative startups, a leading company in the field of geoinformation services such as e-GEOS (ASI 20%, Telespazio 80%), and two industrial partners such as Telespazio (Finmeccanica 67%, Thales 33%) and Thales Alenia Space Italia (Thales 67%, Finmeccanica 33%), aims to promote and encourage the development of new companies in the research field and innovation, supporting the creation of startups capable of creating applications that can be used by institutions, businesses and private users.
"COSMO-SkyMed is a resource with immense potential, and applications on Earth Observation data are still to be discovered and exploited to improve our society," said ASI President Roberto Battiston. "These initiatives help us make space the starting point for innovative startups, and make us understand the importance of the Space Economy for the development of our country. I am sure that all #COSMOsmHack participants together with laptops will bring innovative ideas, because Space is always looking for new and great ideas ".
Subscriptions to the #COSMOsmHack can be made on the ASI website at www.asi.it/it/eventi/workshop/cosmosmhack by November 26. The organizers will see to the constitution of the 'teams', composed of no more than 5 competitors, favoring where possible the thematic areas indicated by the participants at the time of registration. The winner will be offered the opportunity to present the prize-winning proposal at the 67 ° International Astronautical Congress (IAC), scheduled from 26 to 30 September 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Moreover, the winning idea will have up to three months of pre-incubation (in-depth study and feasibility study of the business model) and subsequent six months of free incubation, in case of positive start of the startup. It will then be able to count on the data necessary for the realization of the prototype in the field of incubation for a total value of 5 thousand euros. Finally, after the startup's positive assessment, the winning team will be awarded 10 thousand euros within the first nine months of incubation for research and development expenses.
