TELESPAZIO VEGA UK LIMITED (GB)
The EO Platform Interoperable Building Block Evolution Framework, known as EOEPCA+, sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA), is a continuation of the Earth Observation Exploitation Platform Common Architecture (EOEPCA), which was also run by Telespazio UK. EOEPCA+ began in 2023, and it is part of the Common Architecture initiative that will provide a reference architecture that can combine Earth Observation (EO) cloud and platform capability through the evolution and development of a complementary set of innovative building blocks.
There are many web-based platforms offering access to a wealth of satellite earth observation (EO) data. Increasingly, these are collocated with cloud computing resources and applications for exploiting the data. Users are beginning to appreciate the advantages of processing close to the data, some maintaining accounts on multiple platforms. Our vision is for greater interoperability between such platforms, towards an open network of resources, facilitating easier access and more efficient exploitation of the rapidly growing body of EO and other data.
ESA’s EOEPCA+ initiative continues the previous focus of EOEPCA in harnessing the paradigm shift from “bringing the data to the user” (i.e. user downloads data locally) to “bringing the user to the data” (i.e., move user exploitation to hosted environments with co-located computing and storage). This paradigm shift is leveraging the availability of free and open data together with that of affordable and powerful cloud computing resources to create an opportunity for the wide adoption and use of EO data across many areas of society.
To this end we are helping to establish a consensus of best practice for EO Exploitation Platforms, based on open standards. Supporting that, we are developing a reference implementation of building blocks, as free open source software, where all the resources and source code are public and freely available. Telespazio UK and its partners will design and develop a complementary set of innovative Building Blocks, utilising existing best of open-source technologies from initiatives such as OpenEO, EOEPCA and Pangeo to harness interoperability through standardised geospatial interfaces.
