Business, citizens and environment to benefit from free access to EU satellite data - European Commission

Business, citizens and environment to benefit from free access to EU satellite data - European Commission

The European Commission will provide free, full and open access to a wealth of important environmental data gathered by Copernicus, Europe's Earth observation system.

The new open data dissemination regime, which will come into effect next month, will support the vital task of monitoring the environment and will also help Europe's enterprises, creating new jobs and business opportunities. Sectors positively stimulated by Copernicus are likely to be services for environmental data production and dissemination, as well as space manufacturing. Indirectly, a variety of other economic segments will see the advantages of accurate earth observation, such as transport, oil and gas, insurance and agriculture. Studies show that Copernicus – which includes six dedicated satellite missions, the so-called Sentinels, to be launched between 2014 and 2021 – could generate a financial benefit of some € 30 billion and create around 50.000 jobs by 2030. Moreover, the new open data dissemination regime will help citizens, businesses, researchers and policy makers to integrate an environmental dimension into all their activities and decision making procedures.