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The ESA’s “Towards a Space Powered Economy” event showcased innovative uses of space technologies, such as UEFA’s satellite crowd management and FIS’s environmental monitoring. Businesses are encouraged to leverage these technologies, potentially creating protectable intellectual property.
United Kingdom
Intellectual Property
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Last week I attended an event called, “Towards a space
powered economy”, organised by the European Space Agency (ESA)
as part of their Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS)
programme.
The BASS programme aims to help businesses solve problems on
Earth using space technologies, leading to what is known as,
“a space powered economy”. While at the event, I heard
from a range of businesses in different industries, with the most
surprising ones belonging to the sporting industry. For example,
the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) uses satellites
to help monitor and direct crowds towards stadiums. Another example
is the International Ski and Snowboard Association (FIS), which
uses satellites to help with sustainability issues they face by
monitoring deforestation and pollution on mountains.
The event showed how much potential there is for innovation in
the use of space technologies on Earth. In addition, the dynamic
nature of the sector was highlighted by ESA signing two memorandums
of intent at the event itself, one of which was with FIS.
The key takeaway from the conference is that companies need to
learn to leverage space technologies, because the solution to their
problem might already exist. In practice, this can be difficult, as
it requires a “flash” of inspiration to consider applying
technology from another field to the presently faced problem.
Importantly, such an unexpected solution is typically indicative
that there could be intellectual property worth protecting.
Therefore, I would add my own piece of advice: when you have an
inspired idea, reach out to me or my colleagues at Marks &
Clerk to find out if it could be protected and leveraged to further
your business.
Day two opened with a flurry of distinguished speakers,
starting with ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher who
outlined the importance and potential of the space sector for world
economies and emphasised the significant role played by
commercialisation programmes such as BASS in ESA’s
agenda
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