On Wednesday, November 30, the results of the study on the use of satellite data in the State of Chile were presented within the framework of the Fondef IDEA I+D Project “Satellite Alert and Monitoring System for Environmentally Relevant Areas (SAMSARA): cases of study in urban wetlands, peat bogs and sclerophyll forest”.
This development is financed by the National Research and Development Agency (ANID) and executed by the Adolfo Ibáñez University (UAI), through an alliance between the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences (FIC) and the GobLabpublic innovation laboratory of the School of Government, in conjunction with the Superintendency of the Environment (SMA), the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) and the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA).
The study, led by the GobLab, seeks to identify the problems, challenges, achievements and results of the use of satellite images in the public sector. A survey and in-depth interviews were carried out with image users, with the participation of 20 different services, out of a total of 29 initially detected. Among the results of the study, important challenges were highlighted in terms of personnel training, the centralization of satellite information, and the bureaucratic processes that permeate the reality of public services. Despite this, it was evidenced that the use of IS has contributed to improving the quality and performance of the work of public bodies, with illustrative cases in entities such as CONAF, SMA and the DGA, among others.
Maria Paz Hermosilladirector of the GobLab, indicated that the study showed that “Public bodies face very similar technical, bureaucratic and personnel difficulties. The construction of collaborative inter-institutional governance is an enormous space for contribution of public value that would directly benefit the work of each institution, since it would contribute to the increase in the use of satellite images by all entities, facilitating access to equipment, software, training and transmission of knowledge, in addition to promoting greater efficiency in the use of public resources”.
Mauricio Galleguillosacademic of the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences UAI, Data Observatory researcher and project director, pointed out that “The results of this study are essential to know the level of development that exists in the State on the subject and thus be able to design solutions from academia that are efficient and feasible to implement. Specifically, this research will allow the incorporation of automated indicators of changes in wetlands, forests and peatlands, incorporating automated algorithms based on satellite data available on the Data Cube Chile platform, which is managed by Fundación Data Observatory, the Australian research agency CSIRO in Chile and the FIC“.
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At the end of the project, the Superintendence of the Environment (SMA), the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) and the Environmental Evaluation Service (SEA) will access data and images in a simple, agile and automated way for more efficient planning. and accurate.
“This project has an unprecedented value, since it allows science, academia and the State to come together in an automated tool for land management, making use of cutting-edge satellite technology. The infrastructure of “Data Cube Chile” will provide the scalability factor, making this tool a replicable solution with a high level of computation and processing, compatible with other public administration problems with high social impact, such as urban expansion, waves of heat and agricultural areas, among others”concludes Galleguillos.
