The ESA Global Development Assistance (GDA) activity on Fragility, Conflict and Security was presented as part of the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development organised by the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI) from 15 to 17 May 2023. An overview of the project, methodology, use cases and main results were presented during the conference, with the objective of disseminating knowledge and increasing awareness about how Earth Observation (EO) and complementary technology can support stronger analytical capacity within fragile and conflict-affected countries.
Specifically, the session titled “Exploiting Earth observation and open-source intelligence (OSINT) to support security and fragile settings” offered an overview on how digital and geospatial technology including Earth observation (EO) has become crucial for gaining reliable insights related to security issues and fragile and conflict affected contexts. the GDA AID Fragility activity was introduced with the aim of establishing a dialogue between security researchers, international organisations, development actors and the EO community, to increase awareness about new capabilities offered by EO. Along with the GDA AID Fragility team, the discussion included speakers from International Organisations working on sustainable development and war crimes, International Financing Institutions, and the geospatial industry working closely with Institutional actors on security research and operational activities.
