ESA Integrated Applications - Call for User Ideas on the Alpine Region

Introduction

The European Space Agency (ESA) is inviting public and commercial end-user organisations from the Alpine Region (as well as other interested parties) to propose ideas and suggestions for new services in the Alpine area. Many of these aspects might apply also to other mountainous areas and highlands in Europe (e.g. the Pyrenees and Carpathians).
The aim is to generate ideas leading to new services that will improve business performance and operations, and help enforce new regulatory standards (for instance on environmental protection).
The Call for User Ideas on the Alpine Region is being organised under ESA’s IAP (Integrated Applications Promotion) programme.

The IAP Programme

The IAP programme aims at developing a range of new applications by using and integrating different space assets (Earth Observation, Navigation, Telecommunications and Human Spaceflight technologies). The activities shall result in sustainable services for the benefit of society ensured by the user-driven nature of the IAP programme.

New concepts, capabilities and a new culture are required in order to respond to a multitude of public and private needs from those actors who are not familiar with space systems, and this Call for User Ideas is targeted especially at such users.

The Member States which have subscribed to the IAP Programme are:

Austria	Italy
Belgium	Luxembourg
Czech Republic	The Netherlands
Finnland	Norway
France	Portugal
Germany	Spain
Greece	Switzerland
Ireland	United Kingdom

 

The IAP programme offers different type of funding schemes based on the maturity stage of the service development, namely:

• Feasibility Studies, which provide the preparatory framework to identify, analyse and define new user-driven sustainable services.
• Demonstration Projects, which aim at establishing the basis for sustainable integrated applications. Demonstration Projects are carried out on the basis of partnership with ESA, and have the ultimate goal of validating the operational viability of the proposed solution.

Feasibility Studies can be supported by ESA up to a level of 100% (depending on the procurement process), and Demonstration Projects up to 50%. More detailed information on the IAP programme and relevant funding mechanisms can be found on the IAP portal at http://iap.esa.int/activities. 

Call for User Ideas

Core themes which are covered in this Call for User Ideas include (but are not restricted to) the areas:

• Transport (public and private).
• Tourism (e.g. search and rescue, telemedicine, safety).
• Energy (e.g. hydropower, wind energy, solar energy).
• Environmental Monitoring (e.g. pollution, natural hazards, biodiversity protection).
• Any other promising topic.

The Call for User Ideas on the Alpine Region is driven purely by the users’ perspective and their needs. The ideas submitted will be used to help define and consolidate requirements of IAP projects which are planned to start in 2012. 

The Alpine Region

The Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching across 8 countries from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west. The area covered is 1,200 km long by 200 km wide.
Due to the delicate ecological equilibrium in the Alps which is already under pressure through human activities such as tourism, urbanisation, damming and channelling of alpine rivers, and construction of roads and tunnels, the environment is under ever-increasing threat, with potential negative repercussions on the economic activity itself. One of the well-known concerns is the melting of glaciers, leading to water shortage in summer within the forelands, changes in plant species composition and destabilization of soil and rocks.
The economic situation of mountain communities is at a similar level of criticality. Traditional subsidence-based agrarian systems have long since turned into modern multi-layered economies. Together with the generally fragile landscape, this increased use of resources has had a major impact on the sustainability of the inter-dependent ecological and economic base. 

How to submit your ideas

You are invited to submit your ideas and suggestions by completing and returning the User Response Form by email to iap(at)esa.int (putting “Alpine Call” in the subject heading).

Please be assured that all inputs will be treated confidentially. Your ideas are highly valued, and will help shape the IAP programme of ESA in order to meet your needs.

For any questions related to this Call for User Ideas, please contact:

Dr Tony Sephton (TIA-AFA)

ESA-ESTEC

Keplerlaan 1, 2200AG Noordwijk

Netherlands

Email: tony.sephton(at)esa.int

Tel:+31-71-56-55554

Your ideas and suggestions should reach us by 22nd May 2011.

Download:

• ESA Integrated Applications - Call for User Ideas on the Alpine Region
• User_Response_Form