Asian countries tap satellite data to fight COVID-19

[MANILA] Asia Pacific countries are leveraging geospatial information, digital solutions and artificial intelligence to enhance their response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to help meet theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a新报告。

“Data is now a strategic asset,” Tiziana Bonapace, director of the ICT and disaster risk reduction division ofUN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)，告诉SciDev.Net。“随着更多用途，增加了更多的价值。”

The report, which is the first in a series of UNESCAP publications to assess progress towards implementing the亚太可持续发展空间应用程序的行动计划（2018-2030），突出显示了整个地区的许多举措。

Thailand, for instance, used space applications to monitor the local新冠肺炎情况并想象发展的影响policies。TheGeo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agencyanalysed reduced night-light images to monitor the impact of lockdown measures.

它还使用卫星数据来监测二氧化氮的排放，并发现自年初以来，泰国的大多数省份的活动较少而导致排放。所有这些数据都集成到新创建的仪表板中，该仪表板允许政策制定者和其他人监视大流行，即medical能力，供应，消费品以及预防和预防措施。

“Data is now a strategic asset”

Tiziana Bonapace，联合国亚洲和太平洋经济和社会委员会（UNESCAP）

Last March, the Philippines’科学技术部 - 菲律宾工业，能源和新兴技术研究与发展委员会（DOST-PCIEERD）solicitedproposals用于使用地理空间信息的项目，以响应Covid-19。

One of the proposals was from the菲律宾大学迪利曼for an online geographic system to track information on medical resources in local健康facilities. Dubbed ‘Tracking for Allocation of Medical Supplies’, the system uses volunteered and crowdsourced data to provide necessary support to ensure proper allocation of medical resources.

既然世界正处于疫苗的供应范围内，人工智能地理空间信息的需求仍然存在，因为国家计划向“新正常”转变，DOST-PCIEERD的执行董事Enrico Paringit表示。SciDev.Net。

“This could mean the need to develop tools to ensure safety of publictransportsystems and offices as the economy is gradually being opened for business. We also need to develop intelligent systems to monitor places of commerce — systems that detect and report compliance to social distancing rules,” he adds.

Yet, despite notable advances, significant challenges remain that prevent Asia Pacific countries from taking full advantage of digital solutions in their COVID-19 responses.

Bonapace强调了主要问题：关于技术applications and a lack of guidelines and tools for integrating geospatial, statistical and other kinds of data and information.

对于覆盖片，数据和可持续性的开放性是他在扩大数字解决方案时看到的两个主要挑战。

“There are concerns oversustainabilityof platforms developed during the pandemic since it might die down after the initial requirements and needs have been met and the business case had not been thought out in the beginning,” he adds.

报告呼吁关键因素集成真命天子patial information applications into each country’s planning and actions towards achieving the SDGs. But Bonapace highlights two factors in particular. One is investing in cultivating national experts and the other is encouraging local and internationalcollaborations。

Map of confirmed number of COVID-19 cases per capita as of 29 November 2020.
图片来源：Raphaël Dunant, Gajmar(CC BY 4.0)。

她说：“考虑到地理空间信息和空间应用程序可以增加价值的主题和部门领域的广度，需要在更广泛的部委和传统空间应用领域以外的负责部门以及范围之外的责任部门之间进行参与。”“伙伴关系对于结合可用数据和专业知识并最大化结果是必要的。”

Bonapace说，空间和地理空间信息应用程序将继续在国家的Covid-19响应中发挥重要作用。“热点映射，接触跟踪和预警系统都能够增强19日-19和其他灾难的准备。这些应用程序也可以在恢复阶段有助于更好地建立。”她补充说。

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Asia & Pacific desk.