Eyes in the sky: monitoring government projects from space

Satellite data and geospatial intelligence can be used to monitor government projects from space.

Agencies like the Department of Budget and Management already have systems that compare fund utilization with physical accomplishment, shared Romer Kristi D. Aranas, information technology officer of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA)’s High-Performance Computing and Information Systems Division.

One of these, he said in an October 3 Zoom interview, is the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (DIME).

The initial goal is to integrate PhilSA’s satellite emission fields onto the DIME platform, he told ����ý.

The next step is for both agencies to discuss how satellite imagery can be leveraged at the beginning of – and not midway through – each project, he said.

“Our goal is ma-leverage yung satellite imagery para maging part siya ng process,” Mr. Aranas added. “Ideally, dapat kasama na po siya from the very start.”

The public can also participate in the validation of local maps and various infrastructure at the grassroots level, according to Julius M. Judan, senior science research specialist at PhilSA’s Space Mission Control and Operations Division.

“Our PINAS [PhilSA Integrated Network for Space-Enabled Actions towards Sustainability] project allows people to take photos and record their current position [through an app],” he said in the same call.

“T�󾱲� information is saved on our servers and used to validate the maps that we produce to ensure that the accuracy is higher,” he added.