Call For Media: The ESA Earth Observation Φ-Week (Phi Week)

Media are invited to the Φ-Week (with ‘Φ’, phi, pronounced ‘fee’ or ‘fi’), a five-day international event organised by ESA on the latest developments of relevance to space, to be hosted at its Earth observation centre in Frascati, Italy, from 9-13 September 2019.

Although Earth observation (EO) is a clear focus, the Φ-week takes a wider angle to encompass other space technologies and innovative ICT solutions. The event includes inspiring talks, workshops, roundtables, a startup ‘bootcamp’, side events and ‘hackathons’ in order to explore how new tech is shaping the future of EO and space.

The event connects multidisciplinary communities helping them to :

• gain insight into the latest trends in EO Open Science, New Space, and the impact of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI);

• connect and network with the new ecosystem of space including scientists, innovators, corporate leaders, startups and investors;

• discover the latest trends in tech and space from keynote speakers;

• learn about a wide range of topics, ranging from Open EO Science to AI, blockchain, AR/VR, additive manufacturing and their applications across industries,

• innovate by bringing your idea to the discussion regarding the future evolution of EO

The opening session on Monday 9 September will foresee special contributions by ESA Director General Jan Wörner and ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes Josef Aschbacher.

In parallel, an intensive five-day of Φ-Week Bootcamp, which guides people through the design sprint process, answering critical questions in the design, prototyping and testing ideas relating to Earth observation, will be also organised.