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The Malta Independent | Thursday 3 December 2015
Information & Networking event about startAPP 2.0 and satellite data By MITA Innovation Hub The MITA Innovation Hub (MIH) is offering startups two grants of €22,000 each, of which €15,000 is a cash injection into their business, for a proof-ofconcept based on solving a problem using free and publicly available earth observation and geo-spatial data from the European Space Agency. These data must be combined with public or open data sourced from Maltese sources. The call is being branded startAPP 2.0 since it is the second edition of a similar call earlier this year. The difference with respect to the previous call is that startAPP 2.0 is more open, as startups have to come up with the problem themselves, provided that the solution stems from an application using the above mentioned data. In identifying the problem that they are trying to solve, they must explain why they believe it is a ‘pain point’ for the particular market segment (e.g. farmers, commuters, tourists, or even public entities or private businesses). In their proposal the startups should explain how they intend designing, developing, testing and deploying a prototype of their solution, and how after concluding their proof-of-concept,
their prototype can be used and commercialised, ideally internationally. As part of this call an Information and Networking session was held on the evening of 26th November at the MIH in SmartCity. The call is being supported by the Malta Council for Science and Technology who, through their membership of Eurisy, a consortium funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), will provide a toolkit and related guidance from entities such as Airbus, to help the startups transform the data generated from satellites such as Sentinel-1 and Sentinel2A operated by the ESA. “The MIH will provide all the support and mentorship needed to guide the startups throughout their 16-week timeframe available to develop, test and deploy their prototype”, said MIH manager Alex Borg. “Prospective startups will also be offered a design thinking course to help them ideate and articulate better their proposal, and once chosen, they will be offered just-in-time training on areas such as incorporating, IP protection, marketing and business planning”. Details about the call can be obtained from: http://mitainnovationhub.gov.mt/startAPP
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 3 December 2015
The Malta Independent ICT Feature MITA Communications and PR Team
T
he MITA Innovation Hub (MIH) is offering startups two grants of €22,000 each, of which €15,000 is a cash injection into their business, for a proof-of-concept based on solv-
ing a probl e m using free a n d publicly available earth observation and geo-spatial data from the European Space Agency. All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature