Converging Real-Time Satellite Imagery & Internet Of Things Data Everything, Everyone, Everywhere, Always

The convergence of live pictures from space with internet of things (IoT) data will revolutionise our understanding of who and what is where on the Earth. It will catalyse commerce, accelerate business, enhance security and make our lives easier. Conversely, in the wrong hands this data will enable criminal, illicit and hostile acts, putting our way of life under great stress. It is possible now and we are in a foot race to join the dots on our terms.

By 2030 there will be 10,000 more Earth Observation and 15,000 IoT enabled satellites in orbit and around 30bn IoT devices on Earth. When brought together this data would represent a near-live picture of everything (people and things) or in other words a global live digital twin – everything, everyone, everywhere and always. Put simply, the fusion of this data would show you ‘in a picture’ and not place you ‘onto an old picture’.

Knowing where things are is at the heart of effective security, policing, deterrence, disruption and defence. Insight such as this represents a strategic shift in understanding and a game-changing opportunity across a range of circumstances. It would deny petty criminals’ anonymity, illuminate illegal migration, reveal pirates in the Gulf of Aden, track cocaine in the Caribbean, show where terrorists are pre- and post-attacks, identify manoeuvring hostile forces, allow patient and precise interceptions and retain a crucial snail trail of malign act attribution.

But this digital conflation is also a global live digital twin. With enhanced computing power, it would be possible to exercise near-real time option rehearsal for security and defence officials by drawing on actual (enemy/friendly/neutral) force dispositions and historic enemy manoeuvre patterns.

These ‘rehearsals’ could be conducted at breath-taking speed and withering accuracy - gone would be the classic three staff college courses of actions (left, centre, right) to be replaced by some 30,000+ digitally-mastered options delivered in seconds.

Satellites, protocols, patents, ethics and cash all need to be addressed before the twin can be turned on. The least of these are satellites, which are funded to 2030 and will deliver an image refresh rate of ~30 seconds across the Earth and the essential connectivity. But the protocols to task and distribute data is a digital gordian knot; international standardisation is desperately needed. Protecting intellectual property is a persistent challenge, but the Glasgow-based Space Aye has key patents in the US, Japan, South Korea and intriguingly China. Elon Musk regards ‘patents for the weak’, but they are useful until one has a personal net worth of $200+bn.

The public rightly remains sensitive around data, privacy and anonymity, but there is broad acceptance that telephone companies retain conversational meta data, location tracking is routinely enabled in apps, biometrics are habitually captured and machine IoT data is regularly sent to maintenance teams. Human sentiment is tracked and predicted by many but notably retailers where they tailor purchase prompts, predict repurchase dates and nudge buying habits in their favour.

Data is at the heart of our social lives, connects people across the World, mobilises commerce and powers governments and is the medium through which our way of life is enabled, eased, secured and protected. A ‘day without data’ would be Edwardian so it is unlikely that we will opt to back away from this next big data opportunity. Rather, we need to go into it on our terms, with eyes wide open and secure the benefits that will make such a big difference to our way of life.

Fusing space observation and IoT data will transform our lives on many levels. The technology exists, the scale of opportunity will only grow, and the hurdles are few and surmountable. The key question is who wants to own and operate the system that will know where everything, about everyone, everywhere and always is on the Earth?