Are you interested in becoming the first ever Earth Observation Evangelist? FIRE is looking for charismatic professionals from various sectors
FIRE, the industry-led Forum for Innovation and Research in European Earth Observation, is inviting luminaries from six key sectors – agriculture, energy, raw materials, infrastructure, marine, and urban, with an affinity for technology to express their interest in becoming the first ever Earth Observation (EO) “evangelists”. As influencers in their respective sectors, the EO Evangelists will communicate the benefits of EO to industrial users and engage these users to further improve their operations by incorporating EO.
FIRE’s main objective is to unleash the full potential that EO can bring to society by boosting the innovativeness, productivity and competitiveness of businesses. EO is a source of rich data which can be used to monitor the land, oceans and atmosphere of our planet. The data serves as an input to create insights that can help optimise outputs across many sectors. Several satellite programmes provide such data, the largest being the European Copernicus programme. Satellite data has already been adopted and used in many sectors, opening-up niche markets, improving existing technologies’ performance and increasing end user satisfaction. However, a lack of awareness of benefits, skills, policies, or suitability of existing applications can hinder the uptake of EO.
To address this challenge, FIRE is introducing the novel concept of “EO Evangelists”. Their role is to speak the language of their sector and become the voice of EO and the FIRE project. Their efforts will aim to create significant engagement and traction with non-EO actors all across Europe.
FIRE is looking for impactful “storytellers” to promote the benefits of EO to sector-specific challenges. The selected “evangelists” should have a strong background knowledge of their respective sectors and ideally a personal experience to share with their peers regarding how EO has helped to add value to a given business application. Ultimately, they will play the role of an “influencer”. They could be entrepreneurs with a strong motivation to share their experience on how they have creatively incorporated EO-based data in their workflows and the positive impact this had on their work. They could be “veterans” of their sector, having witnessed generations of technological revolution (and failure). They should be credible and clear in their messaging – and they should be heard.
The six EO Evangelists that will be selected through an open call are expected to attend sector events under the auspices of the FIRE Forum, where they will present and network with other participants. All EO Evangelists will be offered training tailored to their existing knowledge of EO and presentation skills. Their activities will be promoted in the media, during the FIRE events, and via the FIRE communication channels. The EO Evangelists will be compensated for their efforts.
Motivated professionals are invited to participate in the FIRE Open Call for EO Evangelists by submitting their application by the 31st of March (17:00 CET).
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an (online) interview with a jury composed of specialists from the FIRE partners. The final selection of the six best candidates will be made based on their willingness, motivation and availability to participate in this initiative. As of May, and until June 2021, the contracted EO Evangelists will be able to follow a coaching programme to excel their presentation skills and knowledge of EO. All shortlisted candidates will have the opportunity to become part of the community of practice with access to tools and materials to become knowledgeable about EO and communicate its benefits.
“We are looking for the first ever EO Evangelists! The ideal candidates will be experts in their sector, well connected, charismatic presenters and Earth Observation enthusiasts. I am sure the competition will be very high!” said Natassa Antoniou from EARSC, the FIRE coordinator.
For all the details about the Open Call “Expression of Interest” and the application submission, visit this page.
About FIRE
FIRE is the first initiative fully dedicated to bringing actors from key commercial sectors together to outline the now and tomorrow of their market and to use these insights to shape a strategic roadmap for the EO downstream sector. FIRE will focus on fostering the development of current and new markets and supporting capacity building activities to realise the EO-enabled benefits. The three-year project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 869634. Its consortium brings together four partners: EARSC is partnering with SMEs supporting innovation and user uptake (Evenflow and Verhaert) and the National Observatory of Athens.
