Value of satellite-derived Earth Observation capabilities to the UK Government

London Economics, on behalf of Innovate UK, have released an independent economic study to evidence the value of satellite-derived Earth Observation.

The study used a combination of desk-based research and consultations with over 60 experts, concentrating on nine domestic civil use cases, including: Agriculture, Atmosphere, Built Environment, Coastal Management, Flood Management, Forestry, Meteorology, Maritime and Transport Systems.

This study is the first comprehensive insight into the current and near-term value of satellite-derived Earth Observation (EO) capabilities to UK government for civil and domestic purposes. Also investigating the subsequent value to industry as a supplier of EO data and applications to UK government.

Findings include:

• EO presents a nascent but buoyant and high growth market, globally;
• Across the nine use cases examined, the predominant EO use by government is in Meteorology; this represents 90% of the current value derived;
• Current government use in the other civil use cases is limited, variable and fragmented, if at all;
• Government users tend to make use of Sentinel data and process it in-house whilst little commercial data and few civil applications are currently procured for operational use;
• The current government market is fragmented. Findings suggest that there could be benefit from more co-ordination efforts to connect procurers of data and applications to providers;
• Government could treble direct value gains from greater EO use by 2020, and
• Ongoing technological developments are driving the potential for EO use and indicate increasing EO value beyond 2020.

Read more about the economic study in the blog by Carol Sunderland from Innovate UK.

The study is available for download here.