Earth:SAGA-EO Project

The SAGA-EO Project (Support Action to GMES Africa on Earth Observation) consists of a feasibility study on critical pieces of the puzzle of the Lisbon Declaration Implementation Plan on GMES Africa and to complement previous experience in that field. The main finding driving the concept is that no project tackles the Earth observation (EO) field as a global approach (technological, organizational and institutional).

The way to implement this EO capacity-building challenge is to set up dedicated EO networks of users belonging to a same African country and to link them with existing initiatives in Africa and Europe.

The main purpose and objectives of the SAGA-EO project are to study this organisational model and its associated technology and to prove that the concept is viable in five African countries through the following actions:

1. To closely cooperate with the GMES Africa Coordination Team in the preparation of the EU-AU Join Strategic Partnership action plan;
2. To define African national EO user network organisational models;
3. To identify generic technological solutions, compatible with existing standards, to receive, archive, share, disseminate, advise on EO data;
4. To prove that the concept of the proposed organisational model is realistic (five countries identified);
5. To provide recommendation on the necessary steps needed for implementing the African EO user network at national level.

The SAGA-EO project guarantees to achieve those objectives and proposed actions based on the following key issues:

• The knowledge of the African context;
• A strong national political willingness;
• A large panel of actors;
• The consortium;
• High-level national African decision makers;
• Well balanced European and African representatives;
• Senior experts in Earth Observation and applications.

Experienced system architect with in-depth knowledge of methodologies, standards and services organisation

• The strategic guidance of the GMES Africa Coordination Team that will provide the global project orientations according to the GMES Africa action plan findings;
• A technical Advisory Board that will support the project in achieving its global objectives through independent advices;
• The assessment of the African national EO user network model in countries where the network leader has a clear mandate, a geographical continental representation, and high internet access rate;
• European and African relevant projects (PUMA, AMESD, GMES, ACP Observatory, …) results and lessons are fully re-used;
• Technology: Earth Observation (exhaustive analysis of imagery and products offer, from low to high resolution), telecommunications, web services,
• Synchronised support to the GMES Africa Coordination Team.

This project is in the frame of the Seventh Framework Programme, Theme 9, Space Call 2, FP7-SPACE-2009-1 of the European Commission.

Project information

Start date	2010-08-01
End date	2012-07-31
Duration	24 months
Project reference	242190
Project cost	985773 EURO
Project funding	818741 EURO
Programme acronym	FP7-SPACE
Programme type	Seventh Framework Programme
Contract	Support actions

External links

• SAGA-EO Web site