The SPECTORS project lays the foundations for planned high-tech sensor developments by the Dutch-German Remote Sensing Competence Network in the Euregio Rhine-Waal
The civilian use of small remote-controlled drones for surveying, structural inspections, film production, agriculture and other forms of Earth observation is an attractive growth market. The US business portal ‘Business Insider’ (2015) estimates that the market for commercial civilian drones will be worth a total of 4 billion US dollars over the next ten years. However, this figure appears to be an underestimate. The Chinese global market leader for commercial drones alone generated a turnover of US$500 million in 2014. Analysts expect future turnover in this sector to reach approximately US$1 billion. This opens up highly interesting economic opportunities, particularly for innovative services and processes enabled by the use of drones. Especially for high-tech applications, the technological development of drones and their sensors offers the potential to occupy economically attractive niches.
SPECTORS (short for: Sensor Products for Enterprises Creating Technological Opportunities in Remote Sensing) is a Dutch-German high-tech initiative aimed at tapping into the market potential of civil drone technology through sensor innovations for remote sensing and remote monitoring.
The project aims to promote and strengthen innovation within SMEs through collaborative research and development, as well as to strengthen long-term, cross-border networks of expertise, links and synergies between companies, research institutions and development centres. The cross-border pooling of expertise enables effective value creation in the growth market surrounding civilian drones and specialised sensors in the region bordering the two countries.
“The cross-border university network of scientists and engineers, as part of the wider network, acts as an ‘extended workbench’ and a hub for expertise, enabling the development, in close cooperation, of approaches for technical products and new analytical methods for innovative services. It is precisely the specialist knowledge required for the development, operation and application of these high-tech systems that enables differentiation and specialisation in the market and ultimately constitutes the decisive unique selling points for companies in the region,” said the scientific project leader, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rolf Becker from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.
The expansion of the transnational remote sensing competence network in the Rhine-Waal Euregio to a total of 31 partners ensures the sustainable use of remote sensing systems and methods in the region. Interested companies in the border region can collaborate with the competence network to develop innovative products and services, for example in the fields of disaster response, technical monitoring, environmental protection and agriculture. This will create new jobs, open up new markets and enable the region’s innovative companies to establish a presence in these markets at an early stage. Project manager Dirk Unsenos from the lead partner, ISIS IC GmbH in Wesel, is particularly pleased with the approval: “The approval of the project clearly demonstrates confidence in the partners’ capacity for development and the enormous expectations surrounding the expansion of civilian applications for drones! Further potential collaborations with interested companies and institutions, such as Weeze Airport and the DLRG, clearly demonstrate that end-users have a clear vision of how drones can be utilised and that there is significant demand for solutions.”
The “SPECTORS” project was approved by the relevant steering committee on 1 September 2016 and is funded under the European INTERREG V A “Germany-Netherlands” programme. The total cost of the project amounts to approximately 9.88 million euros. The European Union’s contribution stands at 4.94 million euros. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Dutch provinces of Gelderland, Overijssel and North Brabant, and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs are contributing a further 1.65 million euros. The remaining €3.29 million is being funded by the project partners.
SPECTORS
: Sensor Products for Enterprises Creating Technological Opportunities in Remote Sensing
Duration: 1 September 2016 – 31 August 2020
Project partners:
ISIS IC GmbH (Wesel), Planungs- und Vermessungsgesellschaft Ansperger mbH (Kamp-Lintfort), GeSa Gesellschaft für Schaden- und Sicherheitsanalysen mbH (Alpen), IMST GmbH (Kamp-Lintfort), jalasca GmbH (Moers), Thorsten Römer Engineering & Technology Consultancy (Moers), RheWaTech gemeinnützige UG (Kalkar), Nature Conservation Centre in the District of Kleve e.V. (Rees), Haus Riswick Agricultural Centre (Kleve), Lower Rhine Regional Forestry Office, State Forestry and Timber Agency (Wesel), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH (Jülich), Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (Kleve and Kamp-Lintfort), Bureau Waardenburg BV (Culemborg), Innosieve Diagnostics BV (Wageningen), KnowH2O (Berg en Dal), Obtrasec BV (Volkel), EagleView Netherlands BV (Wageningen), SoilCares Research BV (Wageningen), Oost NV (Apeldoorn), KWR Watercycle Research Institute BV (Nieuwegein), Red Merito (Amersfoort), Drone4Agro (Voorthuizen), Clear Flight Solutions (Enschede), Wageningen University & Research (Wageningen), University of Twente (Enschede), Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra) (Wageningen)
Associated partners:
AeroVision, Dronespective UG, GeoInfoSolutions, ProRail, van den Borne Aardappelen
INTERREG V A
INTERREG V A is a European Union programme designed to support cross-border projects. Euregio Rhine-Waal implements INTERREG V A within its area of operation and supports the project partners from the initial development of ideas right through to project completion. INTERREG V A aims to promote the development of European border regions. Support is provided for projects in the fields of business, technology and innovation, sustainable regional development, and society and integration. To this end, Euregio Rhine-Waal is making EU funding totalling 34 million euros available until 2013.
Euregio Rhine-Waal
The Euregio Rhine-Waal is an association governed by public law. Within its area of operation, it promotes cooperation between Germany and the Netherlands. The Euregio coordinates, initiates, manages and supports cross-border projects to bring the residents of the border region closer together. In addition, the Euregio advises citizens and businesses and helps to find cooperation partners. The Euregio Rhein-Waal has around 55 members, including German and Dutch towns and municipalities, the districts of Kleve and Wesel, the Kamer van Koophandel Centraal Gelderland, the Lower Rhine Chamber of Industry and Commerce Duisburg-Wesel-Kleve and the Rhineland Regional Council.
