The Concept
The main concept behind the ERATOSTHENES CoE is to be a fully functional Digital Innovation Hub and a Research Excellence Centre for EO in the EMMENA region, creating an ecosystem where the state-of-the-art sensing equipment, cutting edge research, targeted education services and entrepreneurship come together. It is based on the paradigm of Open Innovation 2.0 (OI2.0), which is based on the Quadruple Helix Model, where Government, industry, academia and society work together to drive change by taking full advantage of the cross-fertilisation of ideas.
ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence (ECoE) as a Regional Digital Innovation Hub for EO in EMMENA:
The ERATOSTHENES CoE as a Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) adopts a two-axis model. In line with the ERATOSTHENES CoE Vision, the horizontal axis consists of three Thematic Clusters for sustained excellence in research of the ERATOSTHENES CoE, namely: Environment and Climate, Resilient Societies and Big Earth Data Management.
In particular, the following application domains will be addressed within each Thematic Clusters:
The ERATOSTHENES CoEengages with the complete ecosystem of stakeholders in a Multi-Actor approach, linking with players segmented according to their geographic location (from central Europe, to South-Eastern Europe, to EMMENA region), their position in the EO value chain (from EO data providers, to science laboratories and research institutes, to SMEs and large industries) and their mandate (from Public Sector, to sectorial coordination organisations, to economic development banks, etc).
The ERATOSTHENES CoEwill exploit the networks that the EXCELSIOR partners are members of to facilitate capacity building, knowledge transfer, research partnerships, etc. Specifically,
- The Infrastructure Area will be responsible for the seamless use of the existing and future ERATOSTHENES CoE infrastructure, their proper operations and the unobstructed access to EO data by the ERATOSTHENES CoE staff and stakeholders.
- The Research Area will be responsible for the development of science and research which later on will lead into the development of ERATOSTHENES CoE services.
- The Education Area will sustain the development and operation of ERATOSTHENES CoE as a Regional Digital Innovation Hub. The specific activities of the Education area include the MSc & PhDs hosting programme, a Skills Development Centre and a Professional Training Programme.
- The Entrepreneurship Area will be responsible for ensuring the sustainability of the ERATOSTHENES CoEand stimulating national and regional growth, through the exploitation of the IPR, licensing of innovation and market uptake of new EO-based products, services and solutions generated by the ERATOSTHENES CoE and the Strategic Partners.
