DOST-ASTI Space Tech Team bags Hitachi Global Award
The DOST- Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) has been initiating capacity and resilience-building activities through its science and technology (S&T) infrastructures and research initiatives on earth observation (EO) applications to contribute to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.
Hence, when Hitachi Global Foundation opened its doors for nominations, searching for projects in ASEAN nations that potentially contribute to a sustainable society through innovations in science and technology, DOST-ASTI's space science and technology team sent in their application.
After meticulous screening processes, the team bagged the ‘Encouragement Award’ at the second Hitachi Global Foundation Asia Innovation Award 2021. It is an award program launched in 2020 to promote science, technology, and innovation that contributes to solving social issues and realizing a sustainable society in the ASEAN region.
This award recognizes individuals and groups that undeniably served public interests through their outstanding achievements in research and development (R&D) in the fields of science and technology, including their visions of an ideal future society and social implementation plans for R&D as a means of achieving SDGs.
In 2021, Hitachi solicited R&D achievements from 21 universities and research institutes in six (6) Asian counties -- including the Philippines which contribute to selected targets of Goal 14 (Life Below Water) and Goal 15 (Life on Land).
The DOST-ASTI team submitted the research titled, “Space-Based Management and Monitoring System for Watershed Protection”, which aims to develop a satellite-based monitoring system for forest and watershed resource management that will enable access to innovation on technologies through remote sensing and geospatial analysis.
Keeping pace with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), DOST-ASTI along with its partner agencies forged a collaboration for data-gathering, data-sharing, strategic assessment, mapping initiatives, and forest and watershed preservation.
The partnerships seek to integrate hazard maps and EO data appropriate for forest and watershed monitoring, as well as aquaculture mapping such as the fishponds, fish cages, fish pens, seaweeds, oyster/mussels farm site management employing remote sensing and geospatial analysis.
Through this award, as well as the partnership, the team seeks to employ and make use of tools, techniques, technologies, and strategies that could potentially drive the country’s economic growth, as well as aid future-oriented and long-term activities fueled by innovation. With the availability of space science technology assets, the team continually aims and achieves the following as they look forward to a science- and evidence-based society:
- Availability of earth observation data at no cost
- Computing resources for scientists and researchers not just from the academe and government institutions, but even with private entities
- Automated monitoring system for watersheds around the country to protect freshwater resources.
- Proactive response with the use of watershed management tools to help natural resource managers, planners, as well as landowners to effectively monitor forest resources
- Eventually supporting government agencies in formulating science-based decision-making tools to aid their climate change adaptation plans and strategies
- Increasing the productivity of our partner agencies through the provision of automated processing tools for their resource management
Most of DOST-ASTI's methods and efforts are based on developments in information communications technology and Computing. These infrastructures that DOST-ASTI already has in place offer huge computing and storage capacities that can shoulder the surge of earth observation data through the emergence of cloud computing and High-Performance Computing from different providers
Hence, with these available infrastructures and the continuous capacity-building activities by researchers, the DOST-ASTI will enable more agencies and institutions to forge partnerships with DOST-ASTI, and in turn, capacitate their local partners with the same technology to meet the goal of Space Science and Technology Proliferation.
Indeed, it's Science for the People, and science by the people.