The European Union has granted the Philippine government access to more of their space data images through the establishment of a national Copernicus data center in the country.
Earlier this week, the EU Mission in Manila officially announced and launched a significant space deal called the Copernicus Capacity Support Action Programme for the Philippines (CopPhil).
A wealth of environment and climate data produced from a network of Copernicus satellites—the Sentinels—will be made available to Philippine authorities. The Sentinels monitor the Earth and its varied ecosystems 24 hours daily.
The Philippine government is going to establish a national mirror site for Copernicus. A centralized Copernicus data storage and processing facility will be established at the Philippine Space Agency. Multiple government entities will be linked via dedicated high speed networks for quick data download and processing.
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As one of the countries most vulnerable to climate changes, the Philippines chose to take on the offer and became the first in Southeast Asia to work with the EU on a space program.
According to the EU, By strategically using satellite data, the new Copernicus data center site would improve the Philippines’ capacity for disaster response and, as a result, its resilience to both natural and man-made disasters.
CopPhil is the first space cooperation program in Southeast Asia. And according to Luc Véron, European Union Ambassador to the Philippines, CopPhil will serve as a starting point for a larger programme on Digital Connectivity.
“In the long term the European Union is exploring the possibility to create a network of Copernicus partners in the ASEAN region aside from other parts of the world. The uptake of innovative technologies such as Copernicus will trigger growth, jobs and modernisation of digital infrastructures that can be used in many sectors in the Philippines,” Ambassador Véron said.