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Spottitt Youtube interview on 2022 wrap-up and 2023 predictions

Look up! How utility and infrastructure can benefit from satellite data in 2023

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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.

Lucy Kennedy
Lucy Kennedy

Spottitt CEO and FIRE EO Evangelist for Infrastructure

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Niccolo Teodori
Niccolo Teodori

Spottitt Chief Growth Officer

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