Asian Development Bank (ADB) uses EO data for better planning, and intervention before and after disaster strikes, as well as to prevent the negative effect of climate change, stimulating adaptation. We showcase and discuss with our DMCs (Developing Member Countries) the best solutions that EO can offer to solve the problem across urban planning, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, forestry, energy, water resources, agriculture and others.
With ESA, we have a program called Global Development Assistance. The partnership is between ESA, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. We design the use cases, co-design the solution with ESA for any country that requires EO data based solution. Besides, we build finance capacity and skill transfer in the country where the solution was developed for.
Digital twin can give you a lot of the opportunity to involve people who are not necessarily experts in EO satellite
ADB works also with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and KIOST (Korean Institute of Ocean Science and Technology. These partnerships are aimed at offering state of the art prototypes to meet client demand. We procure data with the help of service providers and other geospatial industries. AI, ML, IoT and cloud technology are going to be the drivers of our future work in Asia.
Actionable Data
Developing countries need an infrastructure to either store this data or to process the data, because at the moment everything that ADB provides them is cloud-based so that they don’t have to move terabytes of data across the continents.
The possibility given by Copernicus, the free and open data is a game changer, but at the same time it’s also posing some challenges such as storing huge amount of data. In order to extract information from that data, tools equipped with AI/ML is required for instance, mapping coffee cultivation and agriculture indices in Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Cambodia and Vietnam.
We make efforts in linking the digital solution to something tangible, which is the priority of the particular country. For instance, in a country struck by disaster or at the brink of climate change, we use EO satellite data to help them build better infrastructure, and prepare better strategies for climate adaption.
Digital Twin
We expect some new developments in digital twin by the end of this year in some cities and regions in Asia.
We have strong interest in Armenia, especially in connection with the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, which can be opportunity to augment the 3D component. Our goal is to increase the capacity in our DMCs because if you build different layers of information, you do better planning and better revitalization of the city.
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Digital twin can give you a lot of the opportunity to involve people who are not necessarily experts in EO satellite. For example, if we start with Digital Twin, 3D model and drones, and with the proper training at the municipality level, there is a huge opportunity. It can create the conjunction between focused experts on EO satellite and the end user.
ADB is in discussion with Indonesia to explore a regional Digital Twin to evaluate investments and planning beyond a single city approach. This will help cities to economically interconnect among themselves as well as with rural areas.
(Paulo Manunta is Senior Technology Specialist [Earth Observation] Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, Asian Development Bank. The views expressed in the article are the personal opinions of the author.)
Disclaimer: Views Expressed are Author's Own. Geospatial World May or May Not Endorse it
