Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW)
Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industries
Copernicus: Infrastructures
SPECIFIC CONTRACT No 2 - 30-CE-0747761100-24
ORGANISATION OF WORKSHOPS
FOR GATHERING SETS OF REQUIREMENTS TO BE FULFILLED BY THE NEXT
GENERATION COPERNICUS SPACE COMPONENT
REPORT
INTERNATIONALISATION OF
EUROPEAN EO COMPANIES
WORKSHOP
22 NOVEMBER 2016, BRUSSELS
PRODUCED BY: SPACETEC PARTNERS
APPROVED BY: GMV
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 1 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
WORKSHOP REPORT
1
1.1. INTRODUCTION
The European Commission (EC), which is responsible for the Copernicus programme, has initiated actions with the
twofold objective of supporting Copernicus user uptake and gathering user requirements for the Next Generation of
the Copernicus Space Component (CSC).
The objective of this specific workshop was to discuss opportunities, challenges and critical needs of European EO
companies, in particular SMEs, to expand their business outside the EU, and to provide information on dedicated
tools and initiatives available in support to internationalisation.
The workshop covered:

Opportunities for internationalisation of EO companies linked to the Copernicus international strategy

EU industry perspectives

European support to SME internationalisation (with a special focus on support instruments)

Other Pan-European initiatives

SME expectations
103 people registered for the workshop and around 90 attended.
The programme of the workshop was structured to host contributions from: DG GROW, EARSC, ESA, Aerospace
Valley, H2020 projects and several SMEs.
The agenda and the list of participants are available in Annex 1 and Annex 2, respectively.
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 2 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
1.2. MAIN POINTS AND RESULTS
1.2.1. INTRODUCTORY TALKS
The event was opened by the morning moderator, Peter Zeil, who welcomed the attendees and outlined the
relevance of the subject of the workshop, especially in light of the recently published European Space Strategy
(link). He then introduced the programme of the day and the structure of the discussion panels, and gave the floor
to Andreas Veispak (Head of DG GROW’s I3 Unit). Mr Veispak started off by stressing the importance for
stakeholders to be fully aware of the instruments available to foster the internationalisation of EO enterprises. The
international market is still relatively unknown and it is fundamental for DG GROW to have a comprehensive
overview of the opportunities present, and this goal is only achievable through mutual exchange between the EU
and the interested parties. In addition, within the framework of an export-driven economy, SMEs (for whom it is
more difficult to expand internationally) must be supported with adequate tools and instruments developed by the
EU. Mr Veispak concluded by inviting the audience to engage and to provide an opinion on the best way forward.
Figure 1: Andreas Veispak (EC/DG GROW) giving his
introductory speech
Figure 2: Peter Zeil
(SpaSe/SpaceTec Partners
expert), morning moderator
1.2.2. MORNING SESSION
The first presentation, given by Dr Astrid-Christina Koch (EC/DG GROW focused on the last of the four pillars
of the European Space Strategy, which is about strengthening Europe's role as a global actor and promoting
international cooperation. Copernicus can become a global best practice example internationally, and should
facilitate access to international markets for European EO companies. Three types of cooperation are possible:



Full participation of third countries in Copernicus (e.g. Norway)
International activities on Earth Observation (including multi-lateral frameworks): GEO, CEOS, UNOOSA,
UNEP, etc.
Co-operation in the area of data exchange and mutual partnerships for the benefit of the Copernicus
programme
o Third countries with significant data provision capabilities from space infrastructures (e.g. United
States)
o Third countries with other valuable contributions for Copernicus (e.g. Australia)
o Data exchange as a tool for development and capacity building (e.g. African Union Commission)
The second presenter, Christophe Roeland (EC/DG GROW), expanded on the long-standing EU-Africa
cooperation to build Africa's own capacity to exploit EO. A bilateral cooperation framework was launched in 2007
under the Joint Africa-EU Strategy with the objective of supporting the use and development EO services on the
African continent. GMES&Africa essentially relies on the data, information and know-how offered by the Copernicus
programme. The collaboration built on successive capacity-building projects carried out in the last 15 years (PUMA,
AMESD, MESA). With the adoption of the GMES&Africa Support Programme (€32M over five years) under the Pan-
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 3 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
African Programme 2014-2020, GMES&Africa is entering an operational phase to be managed by the African Union
Commission (AUC) based on four main components are:




EO services with an initial focus on the establishment of the Water & Natural Resources Management
service, and the Coastal & Marine Monitoring service. Six other services will follow in a later stage.
Data access
Capacity building
Awareness-raising
Building on this, the next steps include the launch of an open call for proposals to be published by the African Union
Commission tentatively planned in Q1 2017 for implementation of the services:



Application by Regional Implementing Centres (RICs) in five African regions
Two lots, one for each service
Selection of one RIC/consortium per region and per service
Moreover, the EC and the AUC intend to sign a Cooperation Arrangement on access to Sentinel data in 2017. In
conclusion, the AUC Call for proposals will foresee participation of African private sector and allow for international
partnerships:


RICs consortia should include private sector partners, with a possibility of African-EU partnerships
A share of RICs’ grants should be earmarked for private sector partners
Moving on to the European Industry perspective, the third speaker, André Jadot (EARSC/Eurosense), after a
brief introduction of EARSC and its activities, recognised the role of Copernicus as a strong European asset for both
economic development and policy support. He then summarised the solutions offered by EARSC to its members for
internationalisation. These include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Support to ESA with the programme developing projects with International Financial Institutions (IFIs)
Trade Missions & B2B meetings
Export Information (opportunities, instruments, meetings, etc.) portal
MoUs with Japan Space Systems, AARSE, etc.
International B2B (Business-to-Business)
International B2G (Business-to-Government)
Mr Jadot then focused on EC’s actions presented earlier, such as GMES&Africa, and stated the EC must ensure that
the European industry benefits. The African perspective is extremely attractive for European EO companies
according to a recent EARSC & AARSE survey in Africa with more than 90% positive replies of African companies on
cooperation with European counterparts. Joint projects are seen as the way forward. Training in topics such as
project planning, processing of data, etc. and more opportunities for information exchange would be also highly
welcome (73 %). Almost the same number of respondents would go for partnerships (71 %). The last part of Mr
Jadot’s talk focused on solutions to support industry:









Diplomatic means: accompany Copernicus Data & information agreements with support from European
industry
Informing/briefing local representatives
Local offices (Eurochambers), cooperation centres (e.g. EU Japan Centre)
Missions: trade missions meeting with local companies (B2B meetings)
Focused marketplaces: as part of the “EARSC” marketplace, specific tailored boutiques dedicated to
regional issues
Links to the IFI’s: ESA’s activity provides a basis linking local partners and business coming from the
international banks' projects
Benefit from GEO activities and initiatives
Procurement of services giving references for EU companies: ensure that within the EU, public sector is a
procurer of services rather than infrastructure which it then operates (public-private interface)
Targeted R&D to involve non-EU partners e.g. Copernicus for Asia
If Europe is willing to fully capitalise on its investments in Copernicus, a strategic approach is necessary to support
the industry. This should envisage the whole EO services sector beyond Copernicus. Many measures are possible
and many instruments already exist, but the EC and industry need to develop a coherent strategy (roadmap) to
work together, since Copernicus can really be a game changer in the EO world.
One of the possible routes to internationalisation for European EO companies is indeed represented by H2020
projects, and this was the theme of the presentation given by Lefteris Mamais (GEO-CRADLE project), who
started by highlighting the needs of EO companies willing to support their internationalisation strategy:

2016
Understanding the local market
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 4 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016

o Institutional capacities
o Policy priorities
o Procurement processes
o Data availability
Building relationships with local stakeholders
o Mapping the local competitive landscape
o Engaging the end-user community
o Partnering with local companies (industrial cooperation)
H2020 can help in that direction through Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs), Research and Innovation
actions and the SME instrument (fast track to innovation) to, for example, reach the following objectives:




Raising awareness
Performing capacity gaps analysis
Providing network platforms
Instil a data sharing culture
The GEO-CRADLE H2020 project aims at promoting the uptake and exploitation of Earth Observation activities in
North Africa, Middle East and the Balkans. GEO-CRADLE activities are supporting internationalisation by:




Regional Networking Platform
Regional Data Hub
Regional and community oriented Workshops
Regional Feasibility Studies
Moreover, the presenter coined some additional ideas on how H2020 could further support internationalisation,
such as:




Further support Innovation Actions: excellent channel for the exploitation of Copernicus and other open
data as an enabler of business plans that can support internationalisation
Introduce calls targeted at market development/industrial cooperation on an international scale [GSA has
been following this approach for years]
Especially for Research & innovation Actions: introduce the creation of spin-offs as expected impact? And
then link with existing incubation schemes (e.g. Copernicus Accelerator)?
Common Exploitation Booster: introduce specific internationalisation perspectives
After the coffee break the discussion continued with Patrick De Smedt (EC/DG GROW), who stressed the
importance of internationalisation, as 90% of the global growth is expected outside of the EU. Mr De Smedt
presented the main EU instruments to support SME internationalisation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
2016
Political actions
a. To reduce barriers to trade and investment
b. SME international dialogue support: Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Russia (on hold), Israel
and the USA
c. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
Information sources
a. Export Helpdesk: informs on the EU tariffs, requirements, preferential arrangements, quotas and
statistics relating to imports from trade partner countries
b. IPR helpdesk: helps EU SMEs to both protect and enforce their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
through the provision of free information and services
c. EU business centres: provide practical information, advice, and training in the areas of business
development, legal issues, standards and HR to facilitate market access for European SMEs
d. Market Access Database: includes information on applied tariffs, import formalities and
documentary requirements for imports into third countries and information on trade barriers
restricting access to those markets
EU Gateway | Business Avenues: an initiative funded by the European Union to help European companies
to establish long-lasting business collaborations in Asia
a. Selected European companies receive the opportunity to participate in a one-week business
mission in any of the three target markets, Korea, South East Asia and China, focused on a
specific sector
H2020
a. Collaborative Research Orientation by R&D topics
b. Eurostars - Target: R&D intensive SME
c. SME instrument (new and powerful) - Target: Business innovation motivated SMEs
Enterprise Europe Network
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 5 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
a.
b.
c.
International Partnership Services
Information & Advisory Services
Feedback from SMEs concerning EU initiatives, EU legislation
A deeper dive into the EU Economic Diplomacy was then given by Philippe de Taxis du Poet (EC/DG GROW).
Economic diplomacy is necessary to open up business opportunities for European enterprises, and for bringing
growth, competitiveness and jobs to Europe. Currently many EU policies and instruments have been put in place,
but a cohesive approach is missing. Moreover, while 30 million jobs in the EU are already export-related, only a
small fraction (1/8) of EU SMEs are active internationally, and this situation must necessarily be improved.
Suggested next steps are:





EU Delegations: Support EU economic interests abroad
Partnership Commission – MS – EU business organisations
Rationalise presence of EU business support structures
Boost access to finance for business internationalisation
EU economic missions to third countries
In conclusion, business as usual should be avoided, while value-adding and effective ideas should be fostered and
supported.
Christophe Guichard (EC/DG GROW) presented an overview of the EU support to cluster internationalisation.
Clusters are effective springboards for accelerating SMEs internationalisation:



SMEs can join forces for accessing international markets more successfully
SMEs need to establish long-term cooperation with strategic business and research partners worldwide to
access global value chains
Cooperation between European clusters is also key for developing common international strategies
The Cluster Internationalisation Programme for SMEs (COSME, €19m) foresees:



European Strategic Cluster Partnerships (ESCP) – Going International (ESCP-4i)
European Cluster Collaboration Platform
International cluster matchmaking events in third countries and Europe
The "ESCP-4i" main characteristics are:

Minimum 3 cluster organisations from minimum 3 EU MS or COSME countries

To develop and implement a joint internationalisation strategy fostering complementarities in a thematic
area, promoting notably cross-sectoral cooperation

To facilitate internationalisation of SME members in third markets in order to support growth and
employment in Europe

To set up a partnership agreement to develop common actions and implementation roadmap with a longterm cooperation agenda
The next call is planned for early 2017 (Total budget: 5,79M€)

Phase 1
o 2 partnerships reserved on dual use technologies in the defence and security sector
o 2 partnerships reserved on the Earth Observation downstream market and various application
domains
The last presentation of the morning was given by Dr Philippe Lattes (Aerospace Valley), who presented a
concrete initiative funded by ESCP-4i in the space sector: the Space2ID cluster cooperation. He stressed that while
space SMEs are small, the world is big, so it simply takes time and effort to internationalise your business. He
introduced the Space2ID cluster cooperation, aimed at creating an export accelerator of “MADE IN EU” space based
services in the areas of:





Mobility
Energy
Logistics
Creative industries
Agriculture & Food Security
The cluster is now in the phase of defining the strategy and its implementation roadmap. The operations are
foreseen to start in 2017-2018.
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 6 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
Figure 3: The morning session speakers. On the top from the left: Dr Astrid-Christina Koch (EC/DG GROW), André Jadot (Eurosense),
Lefteris Mamais (The GEOCRADLE project), Patrick De Smedt (EC/DG GROW). On the bottom from the left: Christophe Roeland (EC/DG
GROW), Philippe de Taxis du Poet (EC/DG GROW), Christophe Guichard (EC/DG GROW), Dr Philippe Lattes (Aerospace Valley)
1.2.3. MORNING DISCUSSION PANEL
The panellists were:





Ryuichi Sato - Japan Space Systems
Dr Philippe Lattes - Aerospace Valley
André Jadot - Eurosense
Lefteris Mamais – GEO-CRADLE project
Philippe de Taxis du Poet – EC/DG GROW
The moderator (Peter Zeil), after a recap of some key messages from the morning’s presentations, invited Ryuichi
Sato to present his experience at the EU-Japan Centre. Mr. Sato expanded on the EC-funded Minerva fellowship
programme, aimed at conducting market research activities in key sectors (EO in this specific case). The outcome
of his 6-month activity was a MoU between EARSC and Japan Space Systems. The Minerva scheme has the
advantage of being readily available and scalable to other countries, and can represent an interesting gateway for
SMEs.
The moderator then gave the floor to Mr Jadot, who specified two basic ways of establishing a fruitful
communication with interested end-users abroad:


Direct link with the users (through institutional entities, such as ministries)
Liaison with European companies which operate in the foreign country of interest
While the first approach is the most used, the second needs to be improved, as most of the times companies are
simply not aware of the potential benefits coming from EO.
Dr Lattes, fully in line with Mr Jadot, reinforced the idea of identifying companies which might be interested in using
EO data and contacting them to make them aware of the available opportunities. A possible practical solution would
be that of showing off example with the help of prototypes adapted to the needs of the company contacted.
Space2ID is indeed moving towards this direction.
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 7 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
Mr Mamais then focused on the importance of having a trusted partner in the country where you want to expand,
since that is the necessary first step to make contacts with real end-users and know the local ecosystem. Moreover,
knowing precisely which kind of information the end-users need is another key to success.
Mr De Taxis Du Poet identified a few elements to focus on:



It is fundamental to have synergy between the EU initiatives to support SME internationalisation
It is fundamental to capture the specific needs of the end-users in the countries where SMEs want to
expand
It is fundamental to rebuild trust in internationalisation (especially in this political period)
After this first round of panellists, the moderator stimulated some interventions in the audience. Christian Hoffman
(Geoville) reminded how 3 out of 6 of Copernicus services are provided by public entities, 2 are a mix of
industry/public, while only the land service is supported by industry. He wondered whether the problem is that
industry is not able to compete with the public sector or if the nature of Copernicus should be changed to favour
higher involvement of the industry.
Mr Mamais expanded on this by acknowledging the fact that recently Entrusted Entities have been issuing tenders
specifically addressed to industry, looking at specific use cases and exploitation of the information delivered by the
Copernicus Services. They are not big contracts, but still this will help creating the industry “momentum” later on.
The moderator re-focused the discussion on the theme of the workshop and stimulated Andre Jadot on publiclylead initiatives. Mr Jadot insisted on the fact that if the internationalisation initiatives are led by public they are
significantly slower with respect to those led by private, especially because of bureaucracy and decision-making
chain. Focusing on Copernicus, if the Entrusted Entities have mainly public customers, with established long-term
relationship, it is difficult for the private sector to enter into play, and this will create obstacles to
internationalisation. Thomas Heege from the audience supported this argument.
On the other hand, Dr Lattes stressed the fact that many SMEs are small and need a sustainable and adapted tool
for internationalisation, and coined the coupling of an investment fund with the export accelerator to boost SMEs’
export plans. Mr Mamais suggested that expanding the Copernicus Relays beyond the EU might be useful, so that a
link with local stakeholders is always present. Mr De Taxis Du Poet insisted on the fact that subsidiarity principle
must be enhanced (e.g. EU countries have different needs).
Again, Mr Jadot took the word and summarised his view in four points:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The application processes for the support tools should be easier and faster
The success rate of applications should be reasonable
Fair evaluation should be guaranteed
Detailed feedback on evaluation should always be provided
Tom McHugh (Icon Group) stated that the link public-private and large-small must be improved (maybe rebuilt)
with clear distinctions of roles and responsibilities.
The final round of interventions saw the panellists agree on the following:




2016
When going international, usually the solution is to join effort amongst several companies (idea of
complementarity, i.e. “United we are stronger”)
Joint efforts should be made to cooperate and complement, to grow the pie rather than compete for each
other’s share
Local relays or partners in the country of interest are fundamental
Support to market development after the initial phase is as important as the initial “boost”
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 8 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
Figure 4: The morning discussion panel members. From the left: André Jadot (Eurosense), Philippe de Taxis du Poet (EC/DG GROW),
Lefteris Mamais (The GEOCRADLE project), Dr Philippe Lattes (Aerospace Valley), Ryuichi Sato (Japan Space Systems)
1.2.4. AFTERNOON SESSION
After the lunch break the afternoon moderator, Thomas Tanghe, gave the floor to Dr Stephen Coulson (ESA),
who presented the opportunities for international business development deriving from the use of EO for Sustainable
Development Goals. The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were adopted in September 2015 during the
UN Sustainable Development summit. The SDGs are the follow-on of the Millennium Development Goals and will
drive the UN and its member states' agenda on development for the next 15 years. The 2nd SDG relates to Food:
end Hunger, achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture. EO can play a
crucial role with its ability to provide unique and timely information for applications such as monitoring food
security, precision agriculture, etc. The Official Development Assistance (ODA), government aid designed to
promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries, sees EO as ‘best-practice’ of
environmental information provider in the planning, implementation and monitoring of International Development
Banks project activities in developing countries (typically large infrastructure developments). More than 65 smallscale demonstrations of EO-based environmental information have been carried out in support of actual Bank
development projects. ESA and IFI signed a 5 years Memorandum of Intent (MoI) to foster collaboration and the
initial set of ESA-financed projects (total cost of 2.7 M€) have generated directly EO procurements by mainly Global
Environment Facility (GEF), World Bank & International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for additional
activities. In conclusion, the message that Dr Coulson wanted to convey is that Europe has world-leading
capabilities in Earth Observation (EC, ESA and national EO missions) and a highly skilled and experienced EO
information services industry, therefore we can really make a difference in the area of ODA and IFI projects in
developing countries, following the examples of USA and other nations more active on this side.
After Dr Coulson’s intervention, the moderator introduced the latest series of presentations of the day, which gave
room to the perspectives of the SMEs, and the key challenges and success factors of going international.
The first SME representative was Christian Hoffman (GeoVille). He stressed the role played by the EU with
international trade agreements, which enabled SMEs such as GeoVille (based in Austria) to make business abroad
in countries such as Liberia. These are extraordinary opportunities which would have been simply impossible
without the EU. Mr Hoffman then highlighted again the importance of initiatives like GMES&Africa and EO4IFI.
Industry represents a valuable asset, and it can work in synergy with the public, especially to face Grand
Challenges such as climate change. The impact of climate change is both global and local, and industry can provide
valuable solutions at local scale. Moreover, since the World Bank is putting constantly a significant amount of
money for issues such as climate change adaptation and mitigation on the table, Copernicus can play a
fundamental role in this. Mr Hoffman then concluded by focusing again on the opportunities coming from
GMES&Africa. After confirming the summary made by Christophe Roeland in the morning, he added that training of
local companies is one of the most important keys to success of the initiatives, as it is extremely difficult to find
local partners which are competent and reliable.
The moderator then gave the word to Dr Gerard Margarit (GMV), who presented GMV’s EO-based activities
outside of Europe, especially Latin America, but also Asia and Africa. Their recipe for internationalisation entails
running R&D projects financed by EU institutions to mature technology, collect user contacts and execute test
campaigns to provide evidence of added-value. Subsequently, the projects outcomes evolve into specific pilot cases
with direct contact with users to delineate a long-term and sustainable business strategy. Dr Margarit presented
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 9 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
some examples of pilot studies transformed into sustained business cases in Latin America (Argentina), Asia (Iraq
and Japan), and Africa (Mozambique). In conclusion, he stated that the markets with large potential are:




Agriculture
Environmental (Forestry / Marine)
Land Use / Land Cover
Security (only at governmental level)
It is important to enforce agreements with local / regional entities and with data providers at worldwide level for
very high resolution data at a competitive price.
The floor was then given to Thomas Heege (EOMAP), who, after a short introduction about EOMAP and its global
presence (Europe, Australia, America, Asia-Pacific, and China), identified some limitations of Copernicus data over
non-European countries, especially in terms of temporal resolution. These gaps should be filled in the near-future.
He then moved on to discuss push mechanisms for international market development. Copernicus-related agencies
could be an excellent ambassador of industry services (trade delegations). Moreover, demonstration of real
complementarity between institutional Copernicus services and industry proprietary services and solutions is
needed. Examples include the business network for EO companies to be developed by GIZ Bremen, which will
support EO Applications for Sustainable Development in Africa. Dr Heege acknowledged the limited perception for
commercial sector role in Copernicus (e.g. it has no visibility within international delegations) and for proprietary EO
solutions (with the exception of H2020). We should re-invent the wheel rather than reflecting or engaging existing
proprietary professional solutions, and we should fund “open technology” rather than supporting “traceable
comparable quality standards”. For what concerns the future international business perspectives, Dr Heege
suggests to make the commercial sector the backbone of Copernicus with solid bottom-up market development.
The political framework should encourage market driven innovation, competitive growth, free demand driven
market economy. The financial support should be limited to programs such as H2020, SME instrument, access to
financing tools for growth, while investments should go on basic ‘data traffic’ infrastructures, administrative support
to streamline SME-friendly procurement processes.
The final presentation of the day was given by David Hello (TerraNIS). He started off by listing the major
challenges to be faced by an SME in the EO domain:




Find a niche market
Specialised personnel recruiting process
Innovation (R&T)
Establish presence at local level in the country where you want to sell products
As regards the Copernicus programme, Mr Hello stated that the availability of free-of-charge data, especially those
of Sentinel-2, is an extremely favourable situation. Mr Hello introduced the audience to the EUGENIUS network,
which stands for European Group of Enterprises for a Network of Information using Space. EUGENIUS is an
association of European SMEs active in the geo-information sector that are cooperating to set up an open network
of commercial EO services platforms in the frame of the EUGENIUS project co-funded by the European Commission
as an innovation action of the H2020 framework programme. The objective is to share their know-how and address
new regional and local customers – both public and private – in a cost-effective and sustainable way. As of today,
the product portfolio includes 14 applicative tools in the following domains:





Agriculture
Regional and urban development
Ecosystems and Biodiversity – Forestry
Water quality
Civil protection – Hazards
The principle of “united we win” was applied also in this case. The value proposition of the EUGENIUS network
resides in the cost-effectiveness of the products offered, linked to the data shared amongst the partners, proven
and largely used applications all over Europe, long-term sustainability, with the support of local service providers.
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 10 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
Figure 5: The afternoon session. On the top from the left: Thomas Tanghe – moderator (SpaceTec Partners), Dr Stephen Coulson
(ESA), Dr Christian Hoffman (GeoVille). On the bottom from the left: Dr Thomas Heege (EOMAP), Dr Gerard Margarit (GMV), David
Hello (TerraNIS)
1.2.5. AFTERNOON PANEL
Thomas Tanghe opened the panel discussion reminding how Copernicus, apart from being free and open, is also a
global system, which unlocks opportunities for the European industry to use our knowhow and expertise to provide
services beyond the EU internal market. He then reinforced the objective of the afternoon panel: to explore what
opportunity lies outside of the EU market, what barriers or issues to experience, and some first-hand experience
from the panellist on how they dealt with those.
The afternoon panel saw the presence on stage of:






Robbert Mica - VanderSat
Rainer Malmberg - IABG
Dr Paolo Manunta - Planetek Italia
Dr Thomas Heege - EOMAP
David Hello - TerraNIS
Christophe Roeland – EC/DG GROW
Thomas Tanghe introduced the panellists who did not have the opportunity to present during the session, i.e.
Robbert Mica (VanderSat), Rainer Malmberg (IABG), Dr Paolo Manunta (Planetek Italia).
Rainer Malmberg started the discussion and expanded on the motivations for internationalisation. Developing
countries lack EO information, and European companies can fulfil this need. We need to invest in awareness-raising
initiatives in those counties.
Dr Heege stated that his company, EOMAP, started thinking global since the beginning and quickly learned how
profitable the EO market abroad was.
The moderator then asked Robbert Mica whether he was able to identify specific regions or markets abroad which
are more appealing than others. Robbert stated since EO is global by nature it would be silly not to think globally.
VanderSat works with multinational corporations, therefore they are automatically entering the global market with
modest effort.
The moderator asked the audience to reflect on the previously mentioned arguments, and Thomas Klein (Swedish
Agency for Marine and Water Management) reinforced the concepts expressed by Dr Coulson regarding the UN
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 11 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
SDGs. That should be the benchmark for Europe and for Copernicus. You need to act locally, nationally, and
globally, and industry should play an important role in all of this. Christophe Roeland from the panel added that the
EU exactly today (22/11/2016) adopted a strategy in response to SDGs (link), which not only includes the aspects
of sustainable developments in Europe, but also abroad, and EO is acknowledged as one of the tools to support in
this direction.
An unidentified speaker from the audience stated how SMEs should look, amongst other aspects, at competitors in
the countries they are interested in and which measures they take. Rainer Malmberg expanded on that and stated
that in many cases the best solution is cooperation. Alliances allow meeting a broader spectrum of needs and
leading to win-win situations for the SMEs who joined forces. Moreover, Dr Paolo Manunta added that in countries
like India competition is strong for what concerns applications which are not high-end and do not require high-level
technical expertise. More than competition, it is important to understand the “money flow” in the countries you are
interested in. You need to know what happens “behind the scenes”, as in the majority of realities this is quite
different from European schemes. David Hello explained his experience in Canada, where his company established
a link with a local actor, and the Canadian users do not even know the product is being produced in France.
In the audience, John Allan (EARSC) stressed the need for SMEs to offer innovative products that can then be
offered on different markets (e.g. online selling).
Expanding on competitiveness, Robbert Mica suggested that a potential solution could be the formation of a big
European company focused on EO downstream applications (which is one step further with regard to SMEs
consortia). This way you can also play on the battleground against the US giants.
The moderator then focused on barriers to export. Dr Manunta took the lead in this case by stating how continuity
is the main barrier, in the sense that establishing a sustained business that lasts in time and is solid is a major
challenge.
The audience listed some other clear barriers, such as: knowledge of local funding schemes, in situ training of
professionals (Rainer Malmberg suggested that training can also be done in Europe), bureaucracy and timelines of
funding (crucial for SMEs, as Rainer Horn, SpaceTec, stated). Robbert Mica admitted that the SME tool is indeed
quite interesting and effective in his opinion.
Paolo Manunta insisted on the issue of “trust”: if you, SME, are advertised and certified by ESA and the EC, at least
the initial phases are much easier.
The general discussion focused again on the EU instruments and the awareness about them amongst the European
SMEs. Several people admitted that many of the instruments are unknown and/or insufficiently advertised.
Christophe Roeland ensured that DG GROW will take care of improving this situation by publishing regular updates
and augmenting visibility. Moreover, there will be regular news about the B2B business opportunities, which in fact
take place on a regular basis and could be better promoted. On the same line, Geoff Sawyer (EARSC) stated how
the EU trade missions usually remain too high-level and the B2B do not have tangible outcomes.
The moderator thanked all panellists and moved on to the concluding remarks of the workshop.
Figure 6: The afternoon panel members. From the left: Christophe Roeland (EC/DG GROW), Dr Thomas Heege (EOMAP), Rainer
Malmberg (IABG), David Hello (TerraNIS), Dr Paolo Manunta (Planetek Italia), Robbert Mica (VanderSat)
Conclusions
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 12 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
1.2.6. WORKSHOP KEY MESSAGES
The workshop key messages were presented by Rainer Horn (SpaceTec Partners), who started off by
summarising the key messages of the speakers regarding the operating environment for SMEs willing to go
international:




Market Supply
o The Sentinels represent a valuable asset
o Copernicus services are still biased towards institutional service providers
Market Demand
o EO is global by nature
o Market opportunities are not known very well
o The markets are mostly global with limited constraints on data access and associated legislation
Macroeconomic environment
o Economic growth in Europe is expected to largely come from outside
o Several companies have more confidence to operate on the European market (international with
respect to their country, but limited to the EU)
o Globalisation and trade agreements are getting questioned – an opportunity? (to be seen)
EU
o MS institutional presence abroad varies greatly, but Europe can help smaller MS companies
o EU’s ability to sign agreement with countries internationally is considered as an enabler
For what concerns EU’s actions, within the newly published European Space Strategy and specifically for
Copernicus:




EU geographic priorities identified
Strong link with international activities (GEO etc.)
Agreements, data sharing & reciprocity / data access
Local capacity building
The international (funding) instruments strengthen economic diplomacy capability of the EU, increase visibility and
organisation of existing support instruments, focus towards effectively applying Cluster Internationalisation and
SME support instruments.
Copernicus remains to be seen as “best practice” on a global level.
International opportunities include:







Official Development Assistance (ODA) to International Financing Institutions (IFI): IFAD/ World Bank /
EBRD / EIB / DEVCO with majority of IFI programmes in South Asia and East-Asia-Pacific
o Drivers: Green growth and sustainable development / climate resilience & proofing, natural capital
valuation, etc.
o EO data can potentially support 9 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
o EO data exploitation for: monitoring, assessment, planning, policy support
o Demonstration of technology & Information services
o More efficient allocation of economic resources
o Existing MoUs with ESA can facilitate future agreements with the EU
European neighbourhood programme
North Africa: fill a huge “white spot”
Multinational customers (direct channel to internationality): agritech / insurers
Private demand in Asia, Africa and Latin America: agriculture, security environmental, forestry, etc.
Technology licensing
EU opportunity through NASA discontinuing climate change work (TBD)
To sum up, it is required to improve the understanding of markets and competition. Cooperation amongst SMEs is
always a plus, and a solid local network is essential (Copernicus “Relays” also abroad?).
It is important to learn from proven efforts in market development and industrial cooperation (e.g. GSA). EU has
the potential to become a reference international business ambassador for European companies. Moreover, there
should be a stronger focus on developing the commercial market: commercial sector led capacity building and
marketing could be supported by a well-structured programme of EU. To complete the picture, innovative products
should always be privileged, as they guarantee market sustainability.
As a conclusion, Mr Horn summarised the main challenges to be faced by SMEs:

2016
SME consortia are suboptimal vs VC financed North-American companies
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 13 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016




Not easy to follow the UN SDGs and satisfy their needs
Transparency and reality of international tenders
Trust building
Resources to ensure business solidity and continuity
Figure 7: Rainer Horn (SpaceTec Partners) summarising the key messages from the workshop
1.2.7. WORKSHOP CONCLUDING REMARKS
Christophe Roeland closed the workshop. Leveraging on the global nature of the Copernicus programme, the
international strategy developed by the Commission is acting as a door opener. Africa and Latin America are
currently the main focus.
The Commission wants to reinforce the message that SMEs will not be left alone, and a clear example of that is the
EUGENIUS network initiative. The Cluster International call in 2017 will include specific calls for EO industry.
Moreover, as local partners abroad are seen as essential elements to succeed, B2B meetings opportunities, which
already exist and happen on a regular basis, will be better advertised (on the EC website).
The European Commission is aware of its potential role as an international business ambassador for European
companies and will keep this in mind for future trade missions or business diplomacy in general. Communication
with EU delegations abroad will be strengthened.
In short, this workshop brought up very encouraging messages and valuables ideas. The Commission will follow up
on the most important action items resulting from the discussion and will welcome additional feedback from SMEs
today and in future.
Figure 8: Christophe Roeland (EC/DG GROW) making some concluding remarks
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 14 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
ANNEX 1 WORKSHOP AGENDA
2
Venue:
Breydel building Auditorium
45, avenue d'Auderghem-1049 Brussels
Date: 22 November 2016
09:00 - 09:30
Registration and welcome coffee
Morning moderator: Peter Zeil - SpaSe/SpaceTec Partners Expert (EC contractor)
09:30 – 09:45
Introduction
Andreas Veispak - DG GROW
The Copernicus international strategy: an opportunity for European EO companies
09:45 - 10:15

On-going and future cooperation with third
countries, data exchange arrangements

Opportunities of GMES&Africa
Dr Astrid-Christina Koch- DG GROW
Christophe Roeland - DG GROW
EU industry perspective
10:15 – 10:30

How to leverage Copernicus to develop export sales
of European EO companies
André Jadot - Eurosense on behalf of the
EARSC Board of Directors

H2020: a route to internationalisation?
Lefteris Mamais – GEOCRADLE project
An H2020 perspective
10:30 – 10:45
10:45 – 11:15
Coffee break
European support to SME internationalisation
11:15 – 11:45

EU support to SME internationalisation

Other EU support instruments: towards an EU
economic diplomacy
Patrick De Smedt - DG GROW
Philippe de Taxis du Poet - DG GROW
11:45 – 12:15
2016

EU support to Cluster Internationalisation

The Space2ID cluster cooperation
Christophe Guichard – DG GROW
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 15 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
Dr Philippe Lattes – Aerospace Valley
12:15 – 13:10
Morning discussion panel
Ryuichi Sato - Japan Space Systems
Dr Philippe Lattes – Aerospace Valley
André Jadot - Eurosense
Lefteris Mamais – GEOCRADLE project
Philippe de Taxis du Poet – EC / DG GROW
13:10 - 14:30
Lunch break
Afternoon moderator: Thomas Tanghe - SpaceTec Partners (EC contractor)
Other pan-European initiatives
14:30 - 14:45

EO4SD: an opportunity for international business
development?
Dr Stephen Coulson – ESA
SME perspectives
14:45 – 15:45
15:45 – 16:15
2016
Going international: opportunities, challenges and key success factors

GeoVille
Dr Christian Hoffmann – GeoVille Leveraging on EO4IFI benefits and
GMES&Africa

GMV
Dr Gerard Margarit – GMV - GMV’s
experience in Latin America

EOMAP
Dr Thomas Heege – EOMAP - EOMAP
international business development:
opportunities, challenges, support
mechanisms

TerraNIS
David Hello – TerraNIS – TerraNIS:
opportunities, challenges, and key success
factors of going international
Coffee break
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 16 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
16:15 – 17:10
Afternoon discussion panel
Robbert Mica – VanderSat Rainer Malmberg – IABG
Dr Paolo Manunta – Planetek Italia
Dr Christian Hoffmann - GeoVille
Dr Thomas Heege - EOMAP
David Hello - TerraNIS
Christophe Roeland – EC / DG GROW
17:10 – 17:20
Key messages from the workshop
Rainer Horn – SpaceTec Partners
17:20 – 17:30
Concluding remarks and next steps
Christophe Roeland – EC / DG GROW
2016
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 17 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
ANNEX 2 LIST OF WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
3
Table 1: List of actual participants
2016
N°
Last name
First name
Affiliation
1
Allan
John
EARSC
2
Araujo
Joao
Spin.Works
3
Arnocz
Istvan
Space Apps
4
Arozarena
Antonio
IGN
5
Baumann
Ingo
BHO Legal
6
Billast
Philippe
CNES
7
Blundel
Richard
Malta Council for Science and Technology
8
Bollanos
Stelios
Planetek Hellas
9
Coulson
Stephen
ESA
10
D'Angelo
Sandro
EC / DG GROW
11
De Smedt
Patrick
EC / DG GROW
12
De Taxis Du
Poet
Philippe
EC / DG GROW
13
Delourme
Thibaud
EC / DG GROW
14
Donati
Cecilia
Mercator Océan
15
Dubost
Ariane
EARSC
16
Durocher
Lucie
Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur
17
Geist
Thomas
FFG Austria
18
Gilson
Philippe
AMOS
19
Gómez Zotano
Miguel Ángel
Everis
20
Gontier
Eric
VITO
21
Grabak
Ola
ESA
22
Guichard
Christophe
EC / DG GROW
23
Hannah
Bruce
National Space Centre Ltd.
24
Havlicek
Martin
Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic
25
Hawkins
Owen
Earth-i
26
Heege
Thomas
EOMAP GmbH & Co.KG
27
Hello
David
TerraNIS
28
Hoffmann
Christian
GeoVille GmbH
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 18 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
2016
29
Hoffmann
Jörn
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
30
Horn
Rainer
SpaceTec Partners
31
Jadot
Andre
Eurosense
32
Johansson
Anna Maria
SWEPA
33
JUTZ
Simon
ESA/ESRIN
34
Kadoya
Yoko
EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation
35
Klein
Thomas
Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
36
Koch
AstridChristina
EC / DG GROW
37
Kossack
Annika
Executive Agency for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
(EASME)
38
Krekels
Steven
VITO
39
Kunogi
Yoshiharu
Japan Space Systems
40
Lattes
Philippe
Aerospace-valley
41
Maj
Kamil
European Parliament
42
Malmberg
Rainer
IABG mbH
43
Mamais
Lefteris
Evenflow SPRL
44
Manunta
Paolo
Planetek
45
Maranesi
Marcello
Independent Consultant
46
Margarit
Gerard
GMV
47
Mastracci
Federica
e-GEOS
48
McHugh
Tom
Icon Group
49
Menking
Christina
Airbus Group
50
Mezzadri
Sandra
IABG mbH
51
Mica
Robbert
VanderSat
52
Milánkovich
Dorottya
Space Apps Ltd.
53
Mitu
Nicolae
EC / DG GROW
54
Mondon
Emmanuel
AdviceGEO
55
Moullec
Maud
PwC
56
Natali
Stefano
SISTEMA GmbH
57
Neteler
Markus
Mundialis
58
Nohelová
Kateřina
Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
59
Oeldenberger
Stefan
German GeoConsultants Group
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 19 of 20
Internationalisation of European EO companies workshop
07/12/2016
2016
60
Pacholska
Magdalena
Turkish Research and Business Organisations
61
Parlak
Meric
SCISYS Deutschland GmbH
62
Perrot
Yann
PwC
63
Perusini
Valerio
e-GEOS
64
Petalios
Dimitrios
CREVIS Sprl
65
Pica
Udrivolf
SpaceTec Partners
66
Pradhan
Chetan
CGI
67
Roeland
Christophe
EC / DG GROW
68
Rohn
Michael
DWD
69
Sandalinas
Jordi
Image sea solutions
70
Sato
Ryuichi
Japan Space Systems
71
Sawyer
Geoff
EARSC
72
Schreier
Gunter
DLR
73
Sebastian
Ana
GMV
74
Sheehan
Conor
Enterprise Ireland
75
Simion
Iulia
REA
76
Smotkova
Jana
CzechInvest- Investment and Business Development Agency
77
Takayama
Hisanobu
Japan Space Systems
78
Tanghe
Thomas
SpaceTec Partners
79
Tarasenko
Valeriy
Mission of Ukraine to the EU
80
Turpin
Julien
EC / DG GROW
81
van Loon
Jasper
Netherlands Space Office
82
Vanderhaeghen
Francis
VITO
83
Veispak
Andreas
EC / DG GROW
84
Velasco
Almudena
SpaceTec Partners
85
Wildervanck
Lucas
Ears Bv
86
Zeil
Peter
Spatial Services Ltd
Copernicus User Forum Industry Workshop
Page 20 of 20