Overview - ICT4EO

The ICT for Earth Observation (ICT4EO) research group is focused on sensor web enablement (SWE). The sensor web is an emerging technology that promises to revolutionise earth observation. Research is relevant in the context of Global Earth Observing Systems of Systems (GEOSS)/South African Earth Observation Strategy (SAEOS) architecture. The outcome of SWE will be a global network of interoperable sensors and sensor networks. We are working closely with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) on SWE.

Our research is directed at developing intelligent middle ware to harvest meaningful information from the sensor web. We are currently investigating how semantic reasoning and knowledge representation can be used to configure the sensor web to observe particular phenomena.

South Africa played a key role in developing the implementation plan for GEOSS. GEOSS is one of the outcomes of the World Summit for Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002 (WSSD 2002), where earth observation was recognised as extremely important for monitoring sustainable development.