Roadmap drivers

As the nation prepares for the recovery phase of its battle with COVID-19 the timing of the road-mapping represents an ideal opportunity to develop a deep and well considered contribution to the national planning, especially its ability to engender confidence and hope for a challenged private sector.

The Australian Government is committed to achieving two key objectives for the space industry by 2030: 1) 20,000 additional jobs and, 2) triple the size of the space economy to a $12 billion contribution to GDP. The current size of the Australian space industry is around $3.9 billion. The Roadmap will specifically address these key national goals.

Established in June 2018, ensures Australia has a peak agency for space responsible for achieving the economic growth targets. The ASA developed the Australian Civil Space Strategy to advance this vision and provide a long-term plan for the space sector.

Has critical capabilities that leverages space technologies, both for earth observation and positioning, providing high value information products and services to almost every part of the Australian economy. This critical capability is set for significant growth over the next decade, delivering whole new application capabilities and service areas.

Australia’s spatial industry currently contributes at least $12 billion to GDP.
The Spatial Industry is growing at around 10% globally and is set to make a major contribution to the achievement of the ASA’s space industry growth objectives.

Is set to invest $245 million in space technologies over the next seven years through its 100 plus partnering organisations which include 70 companies, 20 universities and the CSIRO, and the Department of Defence through DST. The SmartSatCRC’s strategic plan will benefit greatly if it can be nested in the context of the proposed 2030 RoadMap.

Faces a threshold point on harnessing the spatial digital twin as the next step-change in spatial data infrastructure (SDI) thinking and practice. In March 2020, ANZLIC published its Strategic Plan 2020-24 and is poised to participate in the 2030 RoadMap.

The July publication of 2020 Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan commits Defence to $7B of space investment and foreshadows up to $13.4B in the longer term. It is perfect timing now to marry this with the road-mapping of the civilian sector and recognise a key objective of the Department
of Defence which is to improve Australia’s defence resilience and develop a competitive and sustainable Defence industrial base.

Is leading the development of high-accuracy Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) infrastructure for Australia with a $225M investment from the Australian Government in the 2018 budget. GA is also pioneering the use of satellite imagery data through the DEA capability, with an initial investment of $37m and a further ongoing investment of approximately $12M per year, providing a powerful capability for harnessing the enormous data stores of satellite imagery

Is growing its capability in space, building on its long history in spacecraft tracking and earth observation. The Space Technology Future Science Platform funds technology development across all of CSIRO’s business areas, including advanced manufacturing, agriculture and biosciences. CSIRO has also purchased 10% of time on the NovaSAR earth observation satellite, which will be available to Australian researchers as a national facility.

Is Australia’s peak body representing industry, all levels of government, research and education, that collect and transform earth observation data into essential products and services for government, defence and industry. EOA conducted an extensive national consultation in 2015-16 and developed the “Australian Earth Observation Community Plan 2026” with five priority actions and projects to deliver high- quality earth observation information, infrastructure, and services that are used widely by government, industry, research and the community in Australia and internationally. Implementation of this plan continues to assist with 2026 Spatial Industry Transformation and Growth Agenda and the Australian Space Agency’s EO Priority. EOA’s focus is on integrating effectively across research – government – and industry, which is essential to make the space-spatial linkage work.

Australia’s peak space industry body, the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA), and peak spatial industry body, the Spatial Industries Business Association and Geospatial Information & Technology Association ANZ (collectively known as SIBA|GITA) have a nascent collaboration at present.
The 2030 RoadMap will provide the mechanism for formalising a new era of close cooperation between the two industry peak bodies.

Many members of OGC come from Australia. Multiple OGC international meetings have been hosted by Australia. Australian members have led or contributed to the establishment of several OGC Standards. The Australia and New Zealand Forum provides a community for discussing issues particular to the region.

One of the fundamental motivations for the reinvigoration of Australia’s space policy and space industry has been the recognition that Australia needs far more sovereign equity in and assured access to vital space assets and space-derived services. Achieving of this objective will be greatly aided by the RoadMap which will collectively steward harmonised policy, planning and investment for Australian partnership in and ownership of space assets and spatial data and services.

In September the Prime Minister announced a $150M contribution to support Australian involvement in NASA’s Moon and Mars shots (the Lunar Gateway and Project Artemis). This investment will support Australian businesses contribute to NASA’s critical pipeline of work. Australia was also an early signatory of the NASA sponsored Artemis Accord which define a set of principles guiding the exploration of outer space. The Artemis Accords are based on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty but have been adapted to support safety of operations, reduce uncertainty and promote the sustainable and beneficial use of space . The Artemis Accords were signed by the Head of the Australian Space Agency at the virtual 71st International Astronautic Conference in October 2020.

In September the Australian and the United Kingdom announced the new Australia – UK Space Bridge designed to enable the nation’s space businesses better access to the global space sector. The Bridge will facilitate new trade and investment opportunities and the exchange of knowledge and ideas. The 2030 RoadMap will strengthen Australia’s ability to leverage this and other international agreements which already exist or will come into being in the future.

This Agenda and its complementary plan has been in operation for three years. It comprises over 30 key initiatives to grow the spatial industry built up from a
comprehensive, nation-wide program of consultation. Industry-led by SIBA|GITA, the 2026 Agenda is governed by a Leadership Group that equally comprises spatial industry leaders and leaders from key end-user industries.
The 2026 Agenda represents a well-established program with substantial momentum that will be readily rolled into the 2030 RoadMap.

Is the national peak body catering for the 2200 professionals who make up the spatial information industry. SSSI gives a voice to the members of the spatial science community in both the national and international arena. SSSI through its Remote Sensing Commission is heavily involved
in utilising earth observation data and has an active community of practice within the professionals. SSSI also plays a significant role in the area of capacity building of spatial professionals through its body of knowledge and internationally recognised certification programs. The space community could leverage the experience of
SSSI by developing a space commission within SSSI to cater to the need of space professional development and capacity building. SSSI has significant international relationships with ASEAN, Pacific Island and European and North American Professional Bodies which could be utilised for capacity building cum international dialogue by the space sector.

The Government has increased Australia’s national focus on protecting critical infrastructure and systems of national significance. This aims to identify and understand the vulnerabilities of our society arising from interconnected and interdependent critical infrastructure, much of which is owned by commercial organisations whose business models rely on the interconnected global economy. The assessment of critical risk areas for space and spatial systems and services and the opportunities for a more sovereign national space and spatial sector will be addressed through this Plan. This work is being oversighted
by the Department of Home Affairs through the Space Cross-sectoral Interest Group which is part of the Trusted Information Sharing Network, with secretariat support provided by the Australian Space Agency.

The nation is facing a growing shortage of STEM skilled workers. A vital requirement is an expansion of the capacity of the education sector across all the space and spatial disciplines to fulfil the skillset needs for under-graduate, post-graduate, to vocational and micro-credentialing.

The two science academies, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, are currently developing a national space science strategy that has a number of elements including; capacity development, communications technologies, demographics, education and training, planetary sciences, remote sensing and PNT, space health and life sciences, space situational awareness &space weather, space technology, and the heliosphere. The 2030 RoadMap will augment these planning efforts.

An effect of climate change is increased frequency and severity of natural hazards including but not limited to bushfire, floods, cyclones and drought. The need to predict, prepare, respond and recover from these natural hazards will be a critical element of national resilience. Space and spatial technologies and capabilities are poised to play a central role in equipping the nation to address this challenge.

The global effort to counter climate change requires governments and societies to transition to low-carbon economies. This will force change through many sectors including energy, transport, agriculture, mining and others. The low-carbon economy is going to become increasingly important as the fight against climate change intensifies. Many sectors have been transitioning to systems that have less intensive carbon emissions. Spatial information and technologies provide a pivotal role in analysing trends in business and society such as commute patterns by transport type and energy consumption behaviour. Advanced spatial technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, can unlock great potential in constructing strategies for reducing carbon emissions in Australia.

A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. Spatial information can be an enabler of circular economy activity in cities in the same way it is used for land use planning as waste is produced at a location and will travel to a location for processing and reuse as part of a circular economy. Spatial information can provide visibility on the flow of materials, products and society across the city. Examples include patterns of optimal mobility routes, waste generation, congestion and energy demand. The ability to spatially visualise, map and monitor waste generation from businesses and households, waste and recycling centres by location, layered with valuable insights from other sources (i.e. census data, traffic routes and material information data) allows experts to assess the health of the circular economy as it functions (in real time) along with risks in recycling capacity and plan targeted strategies to address the risks.