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EarthDaily Analytics Geospatial Foundation Model Dinner
EarthDaily Analytics hosted a collaborative dinner event with industry leaders to share insights on using EarthDaily Satellite Data to optimize Geospatial Foundation Models. Companies from across the fields of finance, sustainability, commodity insights, and more were provided a unique opportunity to delve into the role of AI foundation models for Earth observations to address Use Cases across diverse applications.
A Visionary Host
Dr. Hendrik F. Hamann, the Chief Science Officer for Climate and Sustainability and a Distinguished Research Staff Member at IBM Research, was the host of the dinner where he talked about exploring the power of Geospatial Foundation Models in 2024 and beyond. IBM and NASA set out a year ago to build an open-source geospatial foundation model. The model can help scientists estimate the extent of past floods and wildfires. With Dr. Hamann as our esteemed speaker, we delved into a broader spectrum of sustainability Use Cases for the IBM and NASA Foundational Model.
Distinguished Attendee: Charles “Sam” Gemar – NASA Astronaut
Charles “Sam” Gemar attended the dinner and met with the attendees throughout the night. He is an American former astronaut with NASA and a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. Gemar has flown on three Space Shuttle missions (STS-38, STS-48 and STS-62), he also has completed 385 orbits of the Earth and over 581 hours in space and has also served in different positions in NASA, including as a CAPCOM for Shuttle missions. We were honored to have a former astronaut, who has experienced space firsthand, attending the event.
A big thank you also to the companies and their representatives that attended, which included Moody’s Corporation, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Citi, Meta, United Nations, Morgan Stanley, VegaMx, ING, Axiom Space, Alvarez & Marsal, Firefly Aerospace and many others.
The Dinner Event: A Platform for Transformation
This dinner event was an opportunity to network with industry leaders and a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration. The discussions revolved around how Earth Observation and Geospatial Foundation Models are set to revolutionize the financial sector, making sustainability and environmental responsibility a core of economic strategies.
The discussion included example use cases such as classifying, segmenting, or regressing satellite-observed multispectral images to detect flooding, wildfire scars, and land use. Since, the EarthDaily Constellation will provide spectrally robust, analytics-ready data covering nearly 100% of the world’s landmasses and maritime regions, collected at the same time every day it is perfectly suited as the fuel for any Geospatial Foundation Model.
One fascinating use for these models is forecasting. By working with historical satellite data, geospatial foundation models can predict environmental changes, urban development, climate patterns, and even socio-economic trends with unprecedented accuracy and detail, offering invaluable insights for global logistics, infrastructure investment, and sustainable development.
Please reach out to me directly to discuss how EarthDaily Analytics Constellation data can optimize your Geospatial Foundation Model.
About the Author
Mike Spaeth brings a wealth of expertise to EarthDaily Analytics, where he serves as the Commercial Director of North America. Before this role, he held the position of Head of ESG Earth Intelligence at Maxar. With a diverse career encompassing various aspects of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and environmental policy, Mr. Spaeth has made significant contributions in legislative arenas, ESG consulting, sustainability strategy development, high-tech start-up growth, workplace safety advocacy, education, and political activism.
Before joining EarthDaily Analytics, Mike Spaeth served as the ESG Director at Moody’s, played a crucial role as a legislative associate for US Senator Frank Lautenberg, and led campaigns supporting Clinton/Gore. His ESG leadership extended to Fortune 500 companies, where he guided their efforts and offered insightful perspectives to shape forward-looking strategies.
Mr. Spaeth holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Public Administration from Seton Hall University. His unwavering commitment revolves around harnessing the power of corporate and political altruism, activism, and change inertia to drive progress and create a better world than yesterday, last week, and last year.