MEEO proudly contributed to the organization of the Knowledge Event hosted under the European Space Agency’s Global Development Assistance (GDA) programme, which took place from October 22 to 24 at ESA-ESRIN. The workshop brought together approximately 50 stakeholders with the primary goal of strengthening collaboration between institutional partners and GDA.

Participants included a diverse group of representatives from financial experts, UN agencies, universities, national research centres, and governmental organizations, fostering a rich environment for knowledge exchange and collaborative development. Together, we reflected on how the use of satellite data is strengthening development planning and finance across the full project cycle, from design and investment to implementation and evaluation.
Shifting the focus from simple dialogue to tangible impact, GDA’s Knowledge Hub and Analytics and Processing Platform (APP) were presented as practical enablers of this process. Knowledge Hub consolidates EO resources, case studies and training materials to strengthen institutional capacity, while the APP provides a cloud-based environment for building and running analytical workflows using EO data. As company leading the development of GDA APP, MEEO was at the forefront of demonstrating its capabilities and gathering crucial user feedback.

Day 1 kicked off with demonstrations of the two platforms, introducing participants to their functionalities and potential in supporting global development initiatives. Here is a glimpse of Simone Mantovani and Alessia Cattozzo showcasing the APP:

Day 2 transitioned into practical group work. Participants were divided into four teams to tackle various development challenges by leveraging EO capabilities available within the Knowledge Hub and APP. This hands-on experience was followed by a valuable feedback session, allowing users to share their insights on the platforms’ usability, features, and areas for improvement.

Day 3 culminated in a productive closing session, which brought together representatives from both platforms to discuss the objectives and suggestions for improvement derived from the audience.

The event successfully achieved its aims of guiding IFIs and client countries in making effective use of the GDA tools, gathering user feedback, enhancing capacity-building initiatives in EO for development, and understanding how GDA tools can interface with existing IFI internal knowledge tools. To ensure these achievements lead to long-term impact, the Knowledge Hub and APP teams are committed to maintaining this momentum. Plans are now in motion to organize this type of knowledge-sharing workshop on a recurring basis. This continuous engagement will allow for the ongoing co-design of the platforms and foster deeper partnerships between the GDA programme and the development community.