SKAO at the Africa-Europe Science & Innovation Summit

Organised by AERAP, the Africa-Europe Radio Astronomy Platform, the event brought together online policy makers and speakers to discuss the impact of science and innovation on society.

A dedicated session focused on the SKA Observatory and its ambition to “enable global science through radio astronomy”. The session first highlighted the key science objectives for the SKA telescopes and then took stock of current scientific preparations ahead of the telescopes coming online. Focus was put on the importance and the need for a global collaboration to tackle the challenges, in particular in the field of Big Data. The session looked at Big Data both from the point of view of a technical and computing challenge in itself, due to the sheer volume of data the SKA telescopes will have to transport and process, but also as an opportunity for social impact. It was also an opportunity to discuss specific case studies where investment in radio astronomy has led to direct and lifesaving contributions to fighting the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Invited speakers included Dr Anna Bonaldi on the science prospects of the SKA telescopes and its pathfinders and precursors, Cristina Garcia-Miro on the European VLBI Network, Dr George Miley on the SKA pathfinder LOFAR, Dr Philippa Hartley on the SKA Science Data Challenges, Dr Carolina Odman- Govender on the work to develop the next generation of data scientists in South Africa, Dr Adrian Tiplady on the work of SARAO to support South Africa’s fight against COVID-19 and William Garnier on the socio economic impacts the SKAO will bring. The session was moderated by Dr Simon Berry, Head of the SKAO Director-General’s Office.

You can watch the talks on our YouTube channel.