SmartCity Expo: An opportunity for the Copernicus ecosystem

Between July 23 and 25, the fourth edition of the SmartCity Expo took place in Santiago, Chile, organized by the Regional Development Corporation of the Government of Santiago in conjunction with Interexpo and in partnership with Fira Barcelona, ​​and is established as a leading global platform in urban innovation , seeking challenges and opportunities for improvement in the host cities.

The event, which spanned three days, featured over 70 booths and more than 200 solutions on display, addressing challenges such as mobility, sustainability, data management, and citizen participation , thus establishing itself as one of the main meeting points between the public, private, and academic sectors in the field of technology and cities.

OpenBeauchef , the innovation and technological entrepreneurship center of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile, made its presence felt in the urban innovation ecosystem with the panel: “Copernicus: Innovation and startups based on satellite data for the challenges of the city”.

The panel consisted of Jaime Ortega, scientific director of CopernicusLAC Chile, Alejandro Pantoja Sánchez, director of OpenBeauchef, and Dalia Marín, director of Sibila Project, who reflected on how Earth observation is driving the development of startups and technological solutions.

Jaime Ortega highlighted the work being done by CopernicusLAC Chile to bring the capabilities of the Copernicus program to Latin America and the Caribbean, facilitating access to satellite data, tools, and resources that accelerate the development of innovative solutions with territorial impact. In this context, he emphasized the importance of creating collaborative spaces that connect scientific knowledge with the needs of the public and private sectors and the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Likewise, OpenBeauchef shared a stand with CopernicusLAC Chile, in which they sought to promote their new joint initiative , OpenCopernicus , a project that through its execution seeks to provide support and guidance to ventures linked to Earth Observation topics , facilitating their connection with companies, public bodies, incubators and accelerators, universities, R&D centers, investors and other actors in the ecosystem.

Through these types of events, the Copernicus ecosystem establishes itself as a space for dialogue on the impact of space technology, scientific entrepreneurship, and sustainable urban planning.