The European Earth observation programme Copernicus has launched the Copernicus Masters competition. It will give recognition to outstanding ideas, applications, and business concepts that utilise Earth observation data for commercial purposes and socially relevant projects. Along with cash prizes, the winners will receive technical support in realising their ideas, access to satellite data, and start-up support from a prize pool worth a total of more than EUR 300,000. In 2014, for the first time, the Copernicus Masters is carried out on a worldwide basis. Geared primarily toward start-ups and other companies, researchers, and students, the competition will require entrants to submit their applications from 15 April to 13 July 2014 at www.copernicus-masters.com.
In the Copernicus Masters 2014, the following partners will feature topic-specific challenges, including: the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), European Space Imaging GmbH & Skybox Imaging Inc., CloudEO AG, Airbus Defence and Space & Hisdesat S.A., and Satellite Applications Catapult Ltd. The areas of energy and the environment, agriculture and forestry, transport and logistics, maritime applications, disaster management, and the use of remote-sensing data in smartphone apps will be of particular interest this year.
