Open Earth Platform Initiative

Over the past year, we have conducted a feasibility study and initiated a pre-project phase for the Open Earth Platform Initiative, aimed at harnessing open data and technology to drive climate adaptations. This initiative seeks to stimulate local innovation underpinned by global investment, thereby facilitating projects that are not only of higher quality and lower risk but also have a shorter development time from idea to product.

A key challenge identified is the scarcity of platforms that truly embrace an open approach. Vendor lock-in hinders the accessibility of open data, which often leads to both duplication of efforts and a prolonged process from data acquisition to product development. To combat these issues, our platform adheres to the FAIR principles, promoting findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of data.

In the realm of open-source software, we emphasize the benefits of reuse and active involvement. While addressing the common concerns of security and vulnerabilities, we advocate for the synergy between open source software and open data, which enhances the overall effectiveness and innovation of the platform.

OpenEPI is designed with software developers as the primary end-users. A central feature is our developer portal, which is pivotal for ensuring developer engagement and productivity. The architecture of the platform champions vendor independence and utilizes a multicloud strategy to optimize performance and scalability. We rely on best-of-breed technologies, predominantly Python and its modern libraries and frameworks, alongside robust containerization practices.

In this talk at EMS2024, we will delve into the findings from our pre-project phase and provide updates on the current status, discussing how our strategic frameworks and practical implementations are being tailored to collectively foster the development of sustainable and impactful climate adaptation solutions.