ESA APEx: Supporting the Sustainability and Operationalisation of EO R&D Outputs
21st of May 2026, 16.00-17.00 CEST
Launched in April 2024, the ESA Application Propagation Environments (APEx) initiative aims to address the “sustainability crisis” surrounding research and development (R&D) project results in the Earth Observation (EO) sector.
Often, valuable R&D project results become inaccessible once the project ends and companies face significant challenges in ensuring the sustained and operational use of these outputs. The idea behind the ESA APEx is therefore to support projects in tackling this challenge by:
- Streamlining and facilitating the transition of R&D algorithms and applications into FAIR (finable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) compliant and operational EO cloud-service implementations;
- Optimising EO algorithm and services performance for ‘production-readiness’, simplifying algorithm upscaling and enabling cloudification of larger EO toolboxes;
- Ensuring long-term access to EO project results (including value-added products, workflows/algorithms, documentation), allowing the larger EO community to adopt and build on top of previous achievements;
- Providing tailored, configurable and integrated cloud-based collaboration environments that amplify projects’ productivity and showcasing of achieved insights.
Part of ESA’s Earth Action digital innovation strategy, APEx is closely linked to the ESA Network of Resources for commercial uptake and derisking of related services, as well as the ESA EO Common Architecture initiative which develops open source building blocks for interoperable EO platforms.
As we now enter the second phase of the initiative, join our host Geoff Sawyer (EARSC Strategic Advisor and former Secretary General) next Thursday to explore the objectives and key features of ESA APEx with Patrick Griffiths (EO Data Engineer, European Space Agency), Bram Janssen (Project Manager, VITO) and Dan Ormsby (UK Lead, Sparkgeo).
Some questions that could be addressed during this EOcafe include:
- What is the ESA APEx, what are its key goals and how does it fit into ESA’s broader digital innovation strategy?
- What are they main features and tools of the ESA APEx (e.g., algorithm support, project environments, user forum, etc.)? How does it link to the ESA Network of Resources?
- Why should EO companies engage with the ESA APEx and how can they get involved?
- What comes next for the ESA APEx, and what should EO companies be aware of?
Registration: The webinar is open to all. Registration is free but compulsory.
Please note this is a virtual event!
EOcafe is part of a series of EARSC meetings that offer timely, relevant, and practical information on a broad variety of topics related to the EO sector. Join us every month to discuss and network while enjoying a cup of coffee with friends.
IMPORTANT NOTES!!!
- The use of a video camera is not mandatory but is encouraged to facilitate better interaction between the attendees and the guest speaker(s).
- The EOcafe will stay open after 17:00 in case our guests want to continue the discussion.
- By registering for this event, you accept the terms and conditions (https://earsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/EARSC_Events_GDPR.pdf).
If you have any questions, and/or you want to know more about the EOcafe, and/or you want to share an idea about a future EOcafe, please contact Tanya Walker (tanya.walker@earsc.org).
