Destination Earth (DestinE) is an initiative of the European Commission that aims to develop a highly-accurate digital replica of the Earth (a ‘digital twin’). The goal of this digital twin is to help policy makers with monitoring the effects of natural and human activity on the planet, and enable them to digitally test all kinds of future scenario’s in order to shape future policies.
The focus is on climate-related topics. Destination Earth will help scientists, politicians and European decision-makers with modelling the impacts of climate change on extreme weather events, the sea level, rainfall and drought, the state of marine life and biodiversity, and more. With these insights, better policies for climate adaption and mitigation can be developed.
The first version of Destination Earth launched in June this year, with two digital twins (focused on extreme weather events and climate change) and several applications in operation. In the coming six years, several new digital twins of planet Earth will be added – the key milestone being the launch of a full-fledge digital replica of planet Earth in 2030.
AI as the next tech frontier
Destination Earth is currently powered by several advanced technologies, such as supercomputers, cloud, big data (and data lakes), data science, and analytics. Data powering the platform comes from satellite images, large open data platforms, and private sector sources, among others.
The European Space Agency is now aiming to also inject artificial intelligence technologies into Destination Earth, including machine learning, deep learning and generative AI. The aim is to make the platform even richer and the development cycle more efficient. An initial AI-project has been launched for twelve months, with Atos, Mews Partners and ACRI-ST selected as partners.
All three companies are headquartered in France. Atos is one of the world’s largest IT consulting and services companies with a strong track record in the space sector, Mews Partners is a 300-person consulting firm with offices in France and Germany, while ACRI-ST is a technology company that specialises in analysing satellite imagery for Earth observation.
Atos, Mews Partners and ACRI-ST will design, develop and integrate AI technologies into the IT-infrastructure of Destination Earth. Developers who are working on the platform’s expansion can then use these technologies to enhance their use cases and speed up the build of these cases.
“Users will enjoy access to a host of different algorithms, collaborative digital tools, thematic information, models, simulations, forecasts and graphic visualizations,” said Raoul Roth, CEO of Atos in France. “We are honoured that ESA places its trust in our consortium.”
Sourced from Consultancy.eu