Big Data from Space refers to Earth and space observation data collected by space-borne and ground-based sensors. Whether for Earth or space observation, they qualify being called ’big data’ given the sheer volume of sensed data (archived data reaching the Exabyte scale), their high velocity (new data is acquired almost on a continuous basis and with an increasing rate), their variety (data is delivered by sensors acting over various frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum in passive and active modes), as well as their veracity (sensed data is associated with qualified uncertainty and accuracy measurements). Last but not least, the value of big data from space depends on our capacity to extract information and meaning from them. Big Data from Space is an emerging domain given the recent sharp increase in all three main dimensions of big data: volume, velocity, and variety. Fortunately, this increase is paralleled by tremendous amount of new developments related to big data in other fields and enabled by technological breakthroughs and new challenges in hardware and software developments, multi-temporal data analysis, data management and information extraction technologies. In addition, the recent multiplication of open access initiatives to big data from space is giving momentum to the field by widening substantially the spectrum of users as well as awareness among the public while offering new opportunities for scientists and value-added companies. The ambitious and unique European Union Copernicus programme whose Sentinel missions operated by the European Space Agency will deliver free and open access to global data in the microwave and optical/infrared ranges. The first one, Sentinel-1A, has been launched on the 3rd of April 2014 and is already delivering high resolution SAR global data every 12 days at a daily rate of 2.5 TB. The Conference has permitted to highlight new and emerging areas, as well as areas requiring special attention such as collaborative environments, the federation of processing capabilities, harmonization and standardization of access, and processing mechanisms allowing for the seamless deployment of approaches exploiting the full spectrum of Big Data from Space, so as to foster the generation of new and reliable meaningful information. Concerning future opportunities for business development, some key-issues have been identified, namely: quality of data (data veracity) leading to quality information for end-users; the future of space open data (data value); the identification of value chain segments; Data Public Private Partnership (cPPP) between EC and Big Data Value Association. Priorities for Research and Technology Development have been also derived, aligning with EU’s views on a data-driven economy. A preliminary list of recommendation for ESA to drive future activities in the field has been finally drawn. ESA, JRC and SatCen confirmed their availability to organise the next BiDS Conference in Spring 2

1. Summary
and
Recommenda.ons

2. Main
Objec+ves
• Widen
competences
and
exper.se
of
universi+es,
research
ins+tutes,
labs,
SMEs,
and
industrial
actors
• Foster
networking
of
experts
and
users
towards
be>er
access
and
sharing
of
data,
tools,
and
resources
• Leverage
innova+on,
spin
in/off
of
technologies,
and
business
development
arising
from
research
and
industry
progress
• Contribute
towards
the
iden+fica+on
of
the
priori.es
for
a
’Big
Data
from
Space’
research,
development
and
innova.on
agenda

3. Competences
and
Exper.se
• Architectures
and
plaKorms
• Data
storage
management
• Harmonisa+on
and
standards
• Open
and
linked
data
• Data
assimila+on
• Data
visualisa+on
• Data
processing
(HW
&
SW)
• Mul+-­‐mission
and
mul+-­‐source
data
processing
• Data
mining
Achieving
the
main
objec+ves
• Content
based
image
retrieval
• Mul+-­‐temporal
analysis
• Collabora+ve
environments
and
federa+on
of
processing
capabili+es
• End-­‐to-­‐end
system
design
• Ci+zen
cyberscience
&
crowdsourcing

4. Networking
• More
Achieving
the
main
objec+ves
than
400
par+cipants
and
authors,
from
28
different
countries
• Interna+onal
Organiza+ons
(ESA,
JRC,
EU
SatCen)
• Na+onal
Organiza+ons
(CNES,
DLR,
ASI,
NASA,
NOAA,
…)
• Research
ins+tutes,
universi+es
and
industry
• Domains
covered:
Earth
Science,
Climate
Science,
Astronomy,
Resource
Management
• Technologies
covered
(see
previous
slide)
• High
interac+on
during
industry
demonstra+on
sessions

5. Business
development
Main
issues:
• Quality
of
data
(Veracity),
leading
to
quality
informa+on
for
end
user
• The
future
of
space
open
data
• Iden+fica+on
of
value
chain
segments
• Commodi+sa+on
of
big
data
infrastructures
• Legisla+on
framework
(interoperability,
data
protec+on,
IPR)
• Big
Data
Public
Private
Partnership
(cPPP)
between
EC
and
Big
Data
Value
Associa+on
Achieving
the
main
objec+ves

6. Achieving
the
main
objec+ves
Research,
Technology
Development
and
Innova.on
Priori.es
Alignment
with
EU’s
views
on
a
data-­‐driven
economy:
• Availability
of
good
quality,
reliable
data
(Veracity)
• Availability
of
interoperable
datasets
and
enabling
infrastructure
(Volume
&
Variety
&
Velocity)
• Usability
of
data
for
decision-­‐making
processes
• Improved
framework
condi+ons
that
facilitate
value
genera+on
from
datasets,
coopera+on
among
“players”
and
sharing
of
solu+ons
• Exis+ng
(EO,
Science,
SSA,
Space
engineering,
…)
and
future
applica+ons
areas
where
improved
big
data
handling
can
make
a
difference

7. Big
Data
Volume
• Mul+
mission
• Historical
• Processed
• …
Velocity
• Sensor
• Processing
(HW/
SW)
• User
access
(Cloud)
Variety
• Sensor
/
systems
• Processing
• Applica+ons
• …
Veracity
• Cri+cal
applica+ons
• Societal
needs
• Business
needs
• Policy
needs
R&D&I
priori.es

8. Drak
Recommenda+ons
(to
ESA)
1. Establish
a
research,
technology
development
and
Innova+on
agenda
in
the
field
of
Big
Data
from
Space
with
several
well
coordinated
(and
unified)
concept
and
ac+vity
streams,
in
close
and
permanent
dialogue
with
the
key
industry
/SMEs
actors
2. Foster
research
ac+vi+es
and
innova+ve
solu+ons
in
the
“Data
Science”
domain,
in
view
of
future
downstream
services
3. Coordinate
the
European
efforts
(programma+c
and
technical)
for
developing
and
promo+ng
new
models
and
plaKorms
for
Big
Data
from
Space
exploita+on
(from
data-­‐to-­‐user
to
user-­‐to-­‐data)
4. Contribute
to
the
explora+on
and
implementa+on
of
new
“partnership
models”
for
the
actual
exploita+on
of
future
Big
Data
flows
5. Include
in
technology
programmes
ac+vi+es
suppor+ng
the
development
in
cross-­‐sectorial
Big
Data
fields