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EGNOS: Creating opportunities for entrepreneurs
Online registration for EGNOS Application Prize now open
Entrepreneurs with a commercial plan to use the EGNOS satellite navigation signal have a chance to make their vision a reality
by applying for the Special Topic Prize for the most promising EGNOS application idea, which the GSA offers as part of the European
Satellite Navigation Competition 2010.
Oberpfaffenhofen, 26 May 2010: The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service
(EGNOS), the EU’s satellite-based augmentation system, provides Europe’s industry with
the ability to create new applications or modify existing ones using its enhanced precision
and other features. EGNOS corrects the GPS signal, making it more accurate while also
sending an integrity message as to whether it is performing at standards suitable for use
in situations where lives could be at stake.
As part of this year’s European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC), the European
GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) again calls for entrepreneurs to submit their most
promising EGNOS application idea for its Special Topic Prize. Last year a proposal for
leisure navigation software for smartphones won the prize. A maritime personal rescue
tracker application won in 2008.
The GSA is looking for promising satellite navigation applications that make use of
EGNOS signals or services and meet the following criteria:
- The application should deliver end-to-end functionality to customers using new or existing equipment and systems.
- Positioning should be a key enabler of the application.
- GPS and EGNOS should be the primary means of positioning.
- EGNOS functionality should be used.
Uniqueness and originality of the idea, its business potential (including technical
feasibility, commercial feasibility, size of addressable market and time to market), and the
credibility of the team’s management are also considered by the award jury.
The award will provide the winner with access to an incubation centre of his or her choice
within the EU for up to six months. The winner will also have the option of extending their
incubation period for an additional six months. The prize is worth up to €20,000 per sixmonth
period.
Pedro Pedreira, the GSA’s Executive Director, states that the agency’s engagement in
ESNC is part of the GSA’s overall task to foster new applications for EGNOS, and, later
on, Galileo. “The applications must provide economic and social benefit to Europeans and
to European industry. Don’t be shy to explore new avenues,” Pedreira says “That is what
we are looking for.”
The winner of the 2008 EGNOS Special Topic Prize, UK-based Sci-Tech, has since built a
working prototype of their real-time tracking and retrieval system for persons who have
fallen overboard at sea. The prototype was demonstrated at Galileo Application Days in
Brussels earlier this year.
Nogago, the GSA’s winner in 2009 has just been accepted for the Business Incubation
Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The company has already moved into
the premises of the ESA Business Incubation Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany,
where they will receive support to further developing their mobile navigation companion
for outdoor activities.
More information
For more general and technical information about EGNOS go to the official EGNOS Portal
(www.egnos-portal.eu). The Portal provides a one-stop point of access, information
resource and forum for all those developing and using satellite navigation equipment and
applications.
The Portal can help developers create the latest location-based application or software for
aviation, road, agriculture, maritime and location-based services. The Portal is an online
source for up-to-date news, information and solutions.
EGNOS’ Open Service was launched on 1 October 2009 and is available to anyone with a
GPS receiver compatible with satellite-based augmentation systems.
For more information on the GSA’s Special Topic Prize and to submit ideas for innovative
EGNOS applications please go to:
http://galileo-masters.eu/index.php?anzeige=special_prizes_gsa.html before 31 July.
Press contacts:
European Satellite Navigation Competition
Ulrike Daniels
Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen
Friedrichshafener Str. 1
82205 Gilching
Germany
Tel.: +49(0)8105-7727714
Fax: +49(0)8105-7727755
daniels@anwendungszentrum.de
European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA)
Donna Reay
Head of Information and Outreach
Rue de la Loi, 56 (L-56, 08/85)
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 298 52 10
Fax: +32 2 296 72 38
Mobile: + 32 498 98 52 10
Email: donna.reay@gsa.europa.eu
http://www.gsa.europa.eu
Note:
Additional information on EGNOS and Galileo is available at http://www.gsa.europa.eu and
www.esa.int/esaNA
Image material: http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?mission=EGNOS&type=I
About the GSA
The European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), a European Community agency,
works with the European Commission on a range of market development activities aimed
at helping European entrepreneurs and businesses commercially exploit EGNOS and
Galileo. Partnering with the European Satellite Navigation Competition, an international
ideas contest looking for commercially viable application ideas in the global navigation
satellite systems (GNSS) sector, is one of the GSA’s many promotional activities aimed at
high tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
http://www.gsa.europa.eu
About the European Satellite Navigation Competition
The European Satellite Navigation Competition is an international innovation contest that
awards the best ideas for applications in satellite navigation. The competition has been
organised by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO) since 2004 and is
oriented toward companies, entrepreneurs, research institutes, universities and private
individuals. As part of the competition, AZO has established a network that has since
expanded to 22 regions worldwide. The network connects technology hubs and
companies that boast some of the most important players in the fields of incubation,
prototype and product development, market development, and idea management for
applications related to satellite navigation. Meanwhile, aerospace clusters and other
regional initiatives involved in the network give entrepreneurs crucial access to potential
partners and investors.
Having begun with three partner regions, this year’s ESNC will be held in 22 high-tech
regions all over the world: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North
Rhine-Westphalia, Nice / Sophia Antipolis, Prague, South Holland, Madrid, Lombardy,
Australia, Taiwan, Great Britain, Øresund, Gipuzkoa, Valencia, Switzerland, and Israel as
well as newcomers Aquitaine, USA, Brazil and the Arab Middle East & North Africa
(MENA).
The ESNC intends to further strengthen international collaboration among these regions,
particular with regard to the development of applications and services made possible by
Galileo, Europe’s satellite navigation system. The competition is held under the patronage
of the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and
Technology and is supported by the European BIC Network (EBN). The main winners of
the ESNC – the GALILEO Master, the special topic prize winners, and the 22 regional
winners – will be recognised at a state reception to be held at the Munich Residenz on 18
October 2010.
www.galileo-masters.eu
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