Coordinated by Tracasa Instrumental, the IntSen2 project has received 3.28 million euros in funding from the European Defence Fund 2021 and features participation by 10 entities from six countries
The IntSen2, coordinated by Tracasa Instrumental, a public company of the Government of Navarre, presented the results of the work carried out over the last two years. This initiative, promoted by the European Commission and funded with 3.28 million euros by the European Defence Fund 2021, lays the foundations for creating a strategic European security and monitoring service based on satellite images and Artificial Intelligence.
Speaking at the results presentation event, which took place at the headquarters of the European Union Satellite Centre (SatCen) in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) were the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities, Juan Cruz Cigudosa; Director General of Defence Strategy and Industrial Innovation, Lieutenant General Miguel Ivorra; and the Director General of Telecommunications and Digitalisation for the Government of Navarre, Josean Vizcay.
Also participating were SatCen Director Louis Tillier; Luca Fiorani, a representative of the European Commission and a DEFIS EDF Project Officer; and Tomaž Lovrenčič, Director of ITF Enhancing Human Security; as well as a representatives of Tracasa Instrumental and Tracasa Global, the two public companies of the Government of Navarre participating in the project, together with Zabala Innovation Consulting, from the private sector.
Commitment and support from the Government of Spain
In his remarks Cigudosa stressed that “the Government of Spain is more committed than ever to the aerospace sector, thanks to the Aerospatial PERTE, which has already mobilized 100% of the 2.8 billion public contribution. Projects such as IntSen2 will be very useful for the management of the data and images from other actions of the Aerospace PERTE underway, such as the Atlantic constellation of satellites.”
Lieutenant General Ivorra, meanwhile, underscored that “European Defence Fund projects aim to stimulate competitiveness, efficiency and the innovation capacity of the European defence industrial and technological base, highlighting the participation and support of the Ministry of Defense.”
Vizcay later stated that, for the Government of Navarre, “this project represents a new opportunity to demonstrate the power, capacity and level of our community in terms of innovation and technology, a good example that the regions can also be drivers of development for Spain and the European Union. The fact that this work has been coordinated via a public company like Tracasa Instrumental, a national and international leader in remote sensing, allows us to project an image of progress and talent by putting Tracasa Instrumental and Navarre on the international map of digital transformation.”
The IntSen2 project, in detail
“IntSen2: automatic image intelligence powered by Artificial Intelligence exploiting European space assets” uses images from the European Union’s Sentinel satellites and AI techniques – in which Tracasa Instrumental and Tracasa Global boast recognized experience – to develop a concept for the application of image intelligence, laying the foundations for the creation of a strategic European security and monitoring service.
The project has managed to develop a proactive strategic surveillance tool capable of continuous and automated monitoring of areas of interest (air and naval bases), based on AI technology and Sentinel 1 and 2 images. The tool generates a fully automated workflow and is designed to integrate with existing analytics platforms at intelligence services, thereby optimizing the detection and processing of critical information at the strategic level.
To achieve its purpose, the project bases the research and proposed solutions exclusively on European space assets, with the ultimate goal of supporting and strengthening the European Union’s operational autonomy in defence and security.
The consortium, coordinated by Tracasa Instrumental, has, in addition to Tracasa Global and Zabala Innovation Consulting, seven other collaborating entities: the European Union Satellite Centre, Centrum Badan Kosmicznych Polskiej Akademi Nauk (Poland), Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft MBH (Austria), Evenflow (Belgium), Planetek Hellas Etaireia Periorismenis Efthynis Ypiresies Chartografisis Meso Doryforou (Greece), Rina Consulting S.P.A. (Italy) and Universita Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II (Italy).
