Vienna 21 July 2020 14:00
- With their ECO4CO platform the two companies have won the award in the Health Emergency category of the Global Call "Innovative Ideas and Technologies vs Covid-19 and beyond” launched by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)
- The information generated by the platform can help to isolate new hot spots of the epidemic, and to monitor zones in which there is a higher concentration of people
- This recognition shows the Leonardo Group's commitment to Sustainability, and meets three of the Sustainable Development Goals on the UN's 2030 agenda
The ECO4CO (Earth Cognitive System for CoViD-19) platform designed by Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%), and e-GEOS (ASI/Telespazio), has been selected as the winner of the Health Emergency category of the Global Call launched by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to respond to the Coronavirus emergency.
The "Innovative Ideas and Technologies vs Covid-19 and beyond” contest attracted entries from 1,101 companies, start-ups, universities, and research centres in 108 countries. The Global Call had four categories, one of which was related to the "Health Emergency", dedicated to solutions for combating the health emergency; this attracted the most entries, with 390 proposals competing. Telespazio and e-GEOS have been awarded the prize, ex-aequo with the Chinese Company, Shanghai Zhizhong Environmental Protection Technology.
The ECO4CO proposal combines Telespazio's and e-GEOS's know-how and skills, with a view to integrating Earth Observation and positioning satellite data, with non-satellite information generated by the web and social networks, using Artificial Intelligence-based systems. In this way - also using forecasting analysis systems, autonomous satellite data acquisition, and tracking and data learning capacities - the ECO4CO platform supports monitoring areas subject to gatherings (parks, markets, stadiums) providing information on human activity and people gatherings.
The information obtained can then help to isolate new hot spots of the epidemic while, at the same time, monitoring areas in which there is a higher concentration of people. In addition, by combining information and multi-disciplinary skills, and mixing health and geographic data together, the platform provides a spread of epidemic, and offers a forecasting analysis service, to identify medical equipment needs.
“ECO4CO sets the new standard in terms of conceptualising and implementing innovative services with added value, which are based on Telespazio's and e-GEOS's skills and satellite technologies, along with the non-satellite native transverse technologies now available like Artificial Intelligence. This platform is one of the results of a process of constant innovation in progress within our Companies", declared Marco Brancati, Telespazio's Chief Technology and Innovation Officer.
Along with other winners in the UNIDO contest, the ECO4CO platform will be present at the EuroScience Open Forum 2020 in Trieste in September, and at the Expo 2021 in Dubai.
ECO4CO is part of the ongoing commitment of companies in the Leonardo Group in terms of sustainability, meeting three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the UN's 2030 Agenda. Good Health and Well-being (Goal 3), Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (Goal 9).