As we have just entered the beginning of 2023, we wanted to talk about what to expect in the domains of Earth Observation and Remote Sensing for utility and infrastructure sectors; what major developments happened in 2022 and what the industry is looking for this year.
Our business development manager Franklin Andrew sat together with Lucy Kennedy, Spottitt co-founder and CEO, and Niccolo Teodori, Chief Growth Officer, to dive into the topic.
Franklin Andrew: Let’s start by looking back at 2022. How would you describe the state and developments of the geospatial industry last year?
Lucy Kennedy: Well, first of all, the year went by in the blink of an eye. We have got some interesting funding rounds. Data providers are buying satellite analytics providers, and also a lot of interest in the technology and how people can bring it in. We’ve had the Saudi utility network put up a satellite of its own in 2022. SpaceX has increased launch capabilities and capacity so we are able to put more satellites up in space, which means more data, more constellations and different types of sensors in space for companies like Spottitt to play with. I think you see increased interest as well in concepts like digital twins and using geospatial data to understand the changing risks in and around assets. With the trend we saw with Covid when people couldn’t get out and monitor their assets in the same way, we haven’t necessarily seen things going back to business as usual and there’s still an aspiration to move forward with the remote monitoring tools. So there’s an awful lot going on…
Franklin Andrew: That’s really exciting! With all this new technology and everything available, do you see any change in the way how utilities monitor the risk they have?
Niccolo Teodori: Last year, we spoke to about one hundred power and gas utilities around the world and we saw two main trends. First is that the requirements for safety and reliability and leak monitoring are becoming stricter and stricter everywhere. The second is that climate change is exposing assets to new risks that they were not prepared for or used to. So we see that organisations of all sizes and types all share the same strategic pillar, which is the digital transformation of asset management. But the challenge is that while owners of critical assets are looking to leverage remote sensing and geospatial data to unlock more accurate asset planning and predictive maintenance often, this journey can take years. You need to hire people with new skills, sometimes issue multiple tenders to put in place a properly functioning GIS system, and then understand what data to use, how to get it, how to integrate it into a new asset management framework…
To watch the full episode please follow the link below.
The work done is part of the project co-financed by NCBR.
Spottitt CEO and FIRE EO Evangelist for Infrastructure
Spottitt Chief Growth Officer
Throughout years, infrastructure monitoring has progressed from manual field inspections to advanced remote sensing using satellites, drones, LIDAR, and AI-powered analytics.
Each technology brings distinct advantages and limitations, making the choice complex.
This comparison sheet offers an overview of technologies to help identify the best-fit solutions for linear infrastructure owners and operators.
Welcome to your monthly roundup of the latest updates from the Spottitt Metrics Factory platform. As always, we’re working to make your asset risk analytics experience more insightful, flexible and faster.
Future Climate Data Models Now Integrated
Understanding how climate change affects infrastructure is no longer limited to the past or current. Spottitt MF now integrates future climate scenario models, based on global models developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Welcome to Spottitt “Let’s Talk Satellite EO Data” eBook – your ultimate guide to understanding satellite-derived data types, their applications in asset monitoring, of the different types of data providers, and practical tips for navigating the challenges of using remote sensing data.
This resource is designed to help you make well-informed decisions about the use and integration of EO data, ultimately to ensure the safety and performance of your critical infrastructure.
At Spottitt, we’re constantly working to enhance your experience with our analytics platform, by making data visualization and reporting more intuitive, flexible, and insightful. This month, we’re introducing several updates which give you even more control and customization.
🌍 Your Free Climate Data Now Displayed as a Gradient Layer in a Map Format
Just like our other data layers, your free climate data can now be viewed on the map in a compact gradient color format. While generating a report on how each climate parameter impacts your assets is the best way to match this data to your assets and can be nice to view these data layers – helping you assess environmental exposure at a glance.
The upgraded Spottitt platform now empowers users to customize reports in a single step, using multiple data layer types, filters, and display preferences.
Layer types refer to the specific input data leveraged for a monitoring use case.
Depending on the source data purchased through Spottitt MF, the available layer types might include but are not limited to: Optical Vegetation and Man Made Classes, Wind, Precipitation and Temperature Classes, SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) Land & Asset Motion Classes, Digital Elevation Data Classes.
As climate change intensifies and extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, it’s clear that understanding climate and weather variables is no longer just a ‘nice to have’ for asset owners. Recent disasters all over the globe, including the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, USA, only emphasise the necessity of integrating climate and weather data into asset monitoring workflows.
Building on our past successful climate impact analytics projects, such as updating severe weather maps for SPEN, we are thrilled to announce the coming soon launch of Spottitt Metrics Factory 2.0.
