The more we hear from humanitarians, journalists, and community leaders about high-resolution imagery's impact, the more urgent it feels to get this data into the hands of people addressing critical issues. The right imagery can advance transparency, ensure accountability, and improve community resilience. Commercial satellite companies are uniquely positioned to unlock these societal benefits while supporting their core business in the long term and diversifying their user base. Hint, Commercial and Civil Society are going to be necessary income streams as the government pulls back its remote sensing spending. 

This article is intended for satellite imagery companies and individuals who want to make a difference within their organizations. Does your company have an impactful open data program? If not, you're missing out.

When we launched the Maxar Open Data Program in 2017, it was the first of its kind with a Creative Commons license extending well past emergency response periods. That program still exists through years of market changes and ownership transitions, evidence of real value, just like the award-winning Maxar News Bureau launched around the same time.

This isn't a marketing post. It's a call to action for commercial space providers to create impactful Open Data Programs, because open data drives data usage.

For those who want to make a difference with open data, this post outlines practical programs, actions, and strategies that are good for the world and good for business.

You're not alone. There's a whole world of underserved users ready to put your data to good use. We'll connect you with the folks who can make your data dance and share the impact stories you're looking for, and supply a roadmap to providing value and partnerships that work. So, without further monologing, here is the list! 

1. Have (and support) an Open Data Program: Open Data Programs act as a way for commercial companies to share their data with end users and potential end users. This is an opportunity to share data when it has the most value, when disasters strike, or to support an industry-specific vertical. Think about your open data program as a way to showcase your data, prove it has value, and do some good in the world. We are huge proponents of Open Data Programs, and expect a follow-up blog post on what makes an effective Open Data Program to come out soon, but as a teaser, your Open Data Program should be:

2. Sign up for the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters: If you provide commercial imagery, you should be an International Charter member. There is no reason not to, and you’ll be a part of a community trying to make a difference around disasters. While the International Disaster Charter (as it is known parochially) has limitations, they are a central pillar for supporting disasters. So far this year, the International Disaster Charter has activated around flooding in Congo, Floods and Fires in Kazakhstan, and an oil spill in Russia. Airbus, Maxar, Planet, ICEYE, Satellogic, and BlackSky are already members. https://disasterscharter.org/about-the-charter

3. Join the Locus Charter: The Locus Charter is a set of international principles that promote the ethical and responsible use of location data, emphasizing human rights, accountability, and transparency. Engaging with the team at the Locus Charter and adhering to their principles for the ethical use of geospatial data is a great sign that you’re here to do good for the world. Satellite companies are faced with so many ethical decisions, it's great to have a framework to start thinking about these issues before they come up.

4. Clear and Consistent Licensing and Pricing, with Discounts for Good: Have a consistent approach to helping organizations that are doing good in the world, and offer them a consistent way to access your data. If these users are reaching out to you for a sudden onset disaster, move quickly, or better yet, be proactive. 

5. Have a Proactive Activation Protocol around Disasters & Verticals: Have a plan and criteria that you can articulate, as to when your organization will activate your satellite assets. Know or learn what you’re good at and refine your approach. Having an idea of what your sensor is best at, and when and why it should be deployed, is necessary to provide useful data to any vertical that you’re trying to support. If an earthquake hits your mining customer, you should be able to proactively support them and understand how you can support them. If a new regulation passes, use your imagery to show how your sensor can be used as a tool to understand the impacts.

6. Create a News Bureau and Journalism Policies: There is a reason you see Maxar and Planet in the news as often as you do; they actively support media and journalism. Journalists share a mission with EO companies: accountability and transparency. Align on the mission and create a relationship with news media; they have a lot to deal with and can't necessarily keep up with all the new space companies coming out. Reach out and offer your help, offer licensing, and offer stories that highlight the specific value of your data. Bellingcat even has a page dedicated to the use of satellites in its investigations, and The NY Times also uses this data very effectively for storytelling and the pursuit of transparency. This recent article on the exchange of hostilities between India and Pakistan is a great example of the effective use of imagery. There are dozens of other examples of how journalists use satellite imagery in data journalism. Journalists should be a primary user of your imagery, and you should work with them proactively.

7. Support Talent within your company: to use company resources to contribute to open communities, and enable your employees to help organizations make a difference. Many of the Open Data Programs are run by volunteers, and not viewed as a core component to the business, but it is core to the reason many people will stay at your company. This is a huge cultural play for companies, support your employees, and leadership to be a part of the community by supporting organizations that are also doing good.

8. Support the Ecosystem: Earth Observation is focused on data, and “a dataset's value is directly related to how many datasets it can connect with” - Drew Breunig at the CNG Forum. Your dataset is an integral part of the ecosystem, but you must take part in that ecosystem in order to derive value from it. You need to understand your verticals, your data, downstream technologies, your end users, and the impact you’re driving. If your people care about the mission and the value of your company, let them live those values. Support them, and promote them; these are the people driving your company forward.

9. Operationalize doing good: Focus on your leadership, culture, and actions start at the top. Share this post with leadership (or just generally) at your company, and come up with internal metrics, both on execution as well as results. The focus should be on the execution of your mission to get your data into the hands of people who can do something with it, sales numbers will follow after value is established.

10. Avoid Virtue Signaling: If you’re not going to fully commit to and support your open data programs and data philanthropy,  or if you only view it as a marketing ploy, you’re better off not doing it. If you can’t support these missions meaningfully, don’t dilute the efforts of those who can. You will diminish your reputation and frustrate users.

Conclusions and Calls to Action: 

Being a "good space company" is the right thing to do, so much of your data is a stranded asset, yearning to be set free and do good. You have an opportunity to build meaningful relationships with organizations solving some of the world’s hardest and most urgent problems. You should be honored that the data you provide could be pivotal to their success, and you should be savvy enough to partner with them. These end users can serve as early adopters, ecosystem builders, and trust multipliers if you set up the right kind of open data program. Supporting these missions meaningfully can expand your reach, sharpen your products, and establish credibility in emerging markets and use cases.

Does this still feel overwhelming? Here are a few next steps you can take: 

• Share this checklist with your leadership, marketing, product, and business development teams. While individual heroics are appreciated, systems and teams push initiatives forward. 

• Assign ownership for impact initiatives, even if it starts as a 10% role, but be clear that it is a part of a role, not purely volunteerism. 

• Fully understand your current support for civil society, what could you activate, open, or streamline today, and where are your gaps? Don't just build use cases, make connections with the people who support those use cases. 

• Reach out to us at Common Space, We’re here to help. 

• If you’re interested in using open data programs or using this data for good, fill out our Survey. We will be using the responses here to try to connect end users and open data providers to get data into the hands of those who need it!