Introduction to Space ODA programme

( name tba) – Note: all guidance given may be subject to change once first call for proposals is announced – so all work is entirely at the bidders risk.

What is the Programme?

This is an £80m, 5 year programme provided as part of the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP as Official Development Assistance that aims to:

Fund projects that solve development problems or issues in developing countries (defined as being on the OECD/DAC list of ODA recipient countries) involving the Space sector. This is primarily about poverty reduction and could be satellite applications, equipment, instrumentation, missions, facilities, data, know-how, research, skills and training and, other infrastructure in the space sector that provides benefits for economic development and the welfare of developing countries.

Why Space?

• Space at its simplest is part of today’s essential infrastructure for economic development.

• Much of this infrastructure (particularly the expensive part) already exists but may be invisible to developing countries and beyond their ownership.

• Will only be accessible through programmes such as this because of on the ground equipment, training and research necessary to make it so.

Why Space?• Satellites provide communications to remote areas

including broadband, telephony and information or data. This in turn can solve problems through innovative applications such as e-health, e-education and e-banking.

• Satellites equipped with earth imaging technology can act as public goods providing universal environmental monitoring, flood prevention, disease tracking or monitoring of de-forestation.

• Earth observation techniques can also be deployed to help with smart city design, with improving crop yields or protecting wild-life.

• Space can also support humanitarian responses or monitoring in fragile states.

Consumer goods and

services

Business access

to Internet and communications

Humanitarian crises

Environmental eg agriculture

failures/flooding/disease

Affordable healthcare and

educationin remote locations

Telemedicine innovations

Affordable and reliable

communication

Agriculture Monitoring applications

Business connectivity

Education content

Research Capacity building

Summary

What projects are eligible?

• Proposals must be to solve a development problem or issue preferably with a clearly identified in-country owner of that problem.

• Development proposals must benefit from space application solutions and these solutions must be right and proportionate.

• Research, training or capacity building projects also welcome.

• Particularly focused around lower income countries.

Criteria for projects• The main criteria on which projects are judged will be

demonstrable and measurable benefits to economic development and welfare of developing countries. This could include any of the following:

– Affordable goods and services, jobs and growth for even the poorest people in developing countries.

– Human capital interventions including improved health or education outcomes.

– The provision and maintenance of essential infrastructure for economic growth (e.g. entrepreneurial growth hubs).

– Environmental monitoring or protection including against flooding, deforestation, for water protection and rights of water use, disease monitoring and for famine protection.

Criteria for Research or capacity building projects

• A small number of research projects will be funded and the main criteria for these are that they advance our knowledge of the relationship between space and international development and are excellent science.

• Training or capacity building projects also welcome but must be to increase the skills of people in developing countries and involve the transmission of benefits to poorer people.

How will the programme work

A challenge fund with regular calls for proposal.

Three types of call:

1. An open call for proposals.2. A strategic call or challenge starting with a particular development

problem (e.g. providing telemedicine to remote communities) – these may or may not be centered around a particular country.

3. Small scale tactical calls as a result of requests from the international space community e.g. to increase capability to deal with natural disasters or resource management using data from space.

Note: the first call will be an open call to test the market. It is expected that the majority of calls will be strategic in answer to requests from the user community. We are consulting on whether there is appetite to have the opportunity to submit outline proposals.

Project Examples

A project to ensure 2000 young people complete primary education as a result of having access to e-education in remote areas using satellite technology.

A project to use earth observation techniques that allow Rwandan tea farmers to increase their yield by 50%

Next Steps

• Announcement of a call for proposals with clear criteria and written guidance.

• Period of 2–3 months to put together proposals.

• Period of 1–2 months to assess and rank proposals with the best winning support.

• All proposals subject to real time monitoring and evaluation.