Space for Smarter Government Programme plans two one-day courses to introduce public servants to satellite technology
This Sentinel satellite was put into orbit by the European Space Agency, of which UKSA is a member Credit: European Space Agency
The UK Space Agency is planning a crash course to help public sector workers learn more about how satellite technology can help deliver services.
The Space for Smarter Government Programme (SSGP) was established in 2014 with funding from the agency and a remit to help public bodies use space technology to drive innovation. Since then, it has worked with a number of government organisations and private sector companies to use satellite data to help service delivery in areas such as environmental services, and planning and response for natural hazards and disasters.
In the coming months, SSGP plans to expand its work into other areas, particularly local government. As part of its ambitions the programme is to host two one-day courses, early next year, titled Introduction to Satellite Applications for Public Sector Users.
Related content
- Government backs space technology sector with £100m investment in testing facilities
- Defra plans to use its ‘rich’ datasets to save UK money on bovine TB and floods
- Drones can offer the public sector a treasure trove of data: we can’t just view them as a threat from the skies
The courses will be held at the Satellite Applications Catapult facility at Harwell, in Oxfordshire. They will be open to all public-sector workers, who can request to take part. The courses will, for the time being at least, be offered free of charge.
The plan is to offer one sometime in January and another in March, the UK Space Agency’s SSGP manager Sara Huntingdon told PublicTechnology. She added that the course is designed to offer an introductory snapshot into some of the ways that satellite data can be used to help improve service delivery, to public servants who are may be unaware of the technology’s potential to help them do their job.
“This is not aimed at making people rocket scientists,” she added. “We have developed this course to cover the basics.”
Look out on PublicTechnology in the coming days for a full-write of our discussion with Huntingdon, including an overview of SSGP’s work so far and its plans for the future.
