Quezon City, Philippines –In order to apprise our stakeholders of the progress, activities, and efforts of the Synthetic Aperture Radar and Automatic Identification System for Innovative Terrestrial Monitoring and Maritime Surveillance (SARwAIS) Project, an annual Stakeholders Meeting is hereby convened.
In its second year, SARwAIS maintains its purpose of fostering and strengthening the harmony between its stakeholders and partner agencies in order to meet the common goal of collaborative Space Science and Technology R&D for the benefit of the Filipino people.
The meeting, held on 17 February 2022, was attended by DOST officials, project partners, and stakeholders who discussed current efforts and future initiatives of the project. Also, heads and representatives from the Philippine Space Agency, Philippine Statistics Authority, Laguna Lake Development Authority, and Libmanan Water District graced the event, detailing their respective activities with the SARwAIS Project.
Among the guests include DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña, DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Dr. Rowena Cristina Guevara, DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico Paringit, and Philippine Space Agency Director General Joel Joseph Marciano Jr.
“Today, we celebrate these technological and collaborative milestones with our stakeholders as well as forge future feats both on technology innovation and policymaking. My hope is that this congregation will only further our desire to explore new avenues to use space data for the betterment of society,” said Secretary de la Peña in his message.
According to PhilSA’s Director General Marciano, Jr., the SARwAIS project really is about is enhancing components of the value chain in space data here in our country. This SARwAIS Project and what they’re doing today is very important. Engagement with clients and stakeholders is critical in creating and adding value to the space data value chain.
“The examples you have seen, our stakeholders from the LLDA, PSA, Libmanan [Water District], our purpose in showing you to them is to make sure that those that are of a similar kind like government agencies, regulatory agencies, and the private sector can have access to the data being generated at ASTI. Our hope is that more and more users will come forward and collaborate with ASTI because we want to maximize our investment in space science and technology,” said Usec. Guevera.
Last 19 May 2021, DOST-ASTI signed a Memorandum of Agreement with National Security Council to collaborate on the implementation of the SARwAIS Project. In October of the same year, DOST-ASTI, through DATOS Project, PEDRO Center and SARwAIS Project, also signed two separate agreements with Laguna Lake Development Authority and Libmanan Water District.
The SARwAIS Project, which started in 2018, equipped researchers with a 10% share to data tasking and sharing capabilities of the NovaSAR-1 satellite to enhance terrestrial and maritime monitoring around the country.
Watch the live stream of the event here.