Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management in Portugal

Brigadeiro-General José Duarte da Costa – President of ANEPC

Master in Military Sciences from the Military Academy, has an MBA from Universidade Católica Portuguesa and a Postgraduate Degree in International Relations and Political Science from Universidade Lusíada. Qualified with several military career courses and internships, he served in several Army Units, Establishments and Bodies, having held positions abroad. His service record includes fifteen national commendations and one foreign commendation and he has several national and foreign decorations. He has published several articles in the daily press and in magazines and bulletins, linked to strategy and leadership, continuously participating in several conference cycles on the same subjects.

Dominique Tilmans – Eurisy

Dominique holds the title of Honorary Senator in Belgium. During her electing mandates in the Belgian parliament, which spanned 27 years, she invested a lot of energy in space matters. She held the position of Chair of the « Belgian Senate Space Group» and she also presided over the «European Interparliamentary Space conference». In 2016, she was elected Chair of Eurisy, a non- profit Association which aims to bridge space and Society. She is also a Member of the Advisory Council of ESPI (European Space Policy Institute) in Vienna and, a Member of the Board of Vitrociset Belgium. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Europlanet 2024 RI. Concerned by the difficulties of the space industry to recruit young graduates, she launched YouSpace in 2014 and in 2018 she launched in 2018 “Switch to Space” an event with 50 speaker’s representing experts in space and more than 500 students. Between 2019 and 2022, Dominique served as Vice-President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). Currently, she is a Special Advisor to the IAF President on Parliamentarian and Ministerial Relations.

Ricardo Conde, President of the Portuguese Space Agency

Ricardo Conde is a father of two beautiful girls. He graduated in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) – Technical University of Lisbon, with a background in Telecommunications, Radio frequency, and Space and Ground Systems. Ricardo has more than 30 years of working in the industrial and institutional space sector. He began his professional career in 1991, having been linked to the Aeronautics and Space sector since 1993, having participated in several national and international Space programs, particularly in Space and Ground Segments. Since 2019, Ricardo has been a member of the board of directors of the Portuguese Space Agency, and in 2020, he was appointed President of the Agency. He has been participating as a panelist and keynote speaker in several International Space Congresses, particularly on the emerging new space agencies as new actors in Space, Space sustainability, and the role of Space in a sustainable planet. In 2022, Ricardo was the chairperson of the Eureka Network, the largest international network to promote Science and Innovation for SMEs, during the Portuguese presidency of this international organization. Currently, he is the Portuguese representative and head of the delegation to the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA), to the Council of European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the Council of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO).

Rodrigo da Costa – Executive Director, European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)

On 16 October 2020, Rodrigo da Costa took up his duties as Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), formerly the European GNSS Agency (GSA). Prior to this, he was the Galileo Services Programme Manager from March 2017. Before joining the GSA, Rodrigo da Costa held several senior project management, business development, and institutional key account management positions in the space industry, in the areas of human space flight, exploration, launchers and R&D. Rodrigo da Costa holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the “Instituto Superior Tecnico” in Lisbon, a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Delft, and an MBA from the EuroMBA consortium of Business Schools.

André Moreira Gonçalves, Communications consultant, European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC)

André supports the European Commission Joint Research Centre and the Copernicus Emergency Management Service in turning scientific work on disaster risk management and climate extremes (e.g. floods, wildfires, droughts) into various communication materials. He facilitates interactive workshops and training sessions on climate science and broader sustainability-related topics in Portugal.

Georgios Synnefakis – European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)

Since 20202, Georgios Synnefakis holds the post of GOVSATCOM Programme Manager in the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). He is responsible for the management of the GOVSATCOM component of the EU Space Programme and the  implementation of the GOVSATCOM parts of the Contribution Agreement of the Agency with the European Commission. He also coordinates the preparation of the GOVSATCOM Hub procurement, the GOVSATCOM service implementation and the preparation of initial services. In addition, he supports the definition of the Secure Connectivity/ IRIS2.  Prior to joining EUSPA, Dr. Synnefakis has worked for more than a decade in the Greek public administration in the Ministry of Digital Governance and the Ministry of Defense. Georgios has been the Head of delegation in ESA council, member of the GSA Administrative Board, member of the National Space Policy Committee, head of delegation in ITU WRCs, among other.

António Araújo, Country Business Manager and Section Head of the Remote Sensing Division, GMV

António Araújo is a biophysics engineer and remote sensing specialist, serving since 2009 as the head of the remote sensing services and geospatial applications division at GMV in Portugal. With a team of more than 15 professionals in Portugal (> 40 at group level), he oversees projects in various domains, from marine to land applications. His unit has specialized and emerged as a key provider of the European Copernicus services in the areas of Security and Emergencies, playing a crucial role in supporting crisis management and response worldwide. Their contributions extend to border control in Europe, monitoring in-conflict or destabilized zones globally, rapid mapping of natural and man-made disasters, and as well disasters risk and recovery assessment. Araújo’s experience have solidified his position as an expert in these fields.

João Bentes, Institutional Affairs Manager, GeoSAT

 

 

 

 

 

Ricardo Cabral, Co-Founder, Spotlite

Ricardo Cabral holds a degree in Archaeology and History from the University of Coimbra and is the co-founder and Executive Director of Spotlite, a startup specializing in satellite-based monitoring systems for critical infrastructures.

Miguel Correia, Eyecon Group’s founder

Miguel is an experienced executive in public and private organisations, having worked in ports, public health, and the software industries. Holding a degree in economics and a deep passion for data science, Miguel is committed to advancing predictive models to enhance global disaster resilience.

Pedro Ribeiro, Technical Manager in Earth Observation Services, DEIMOS

Pedro Ribeiro is an oceanographer and Master in Geography, currently working as Technical Manager in Earth observation downstream services at Deimos. His main area of expertise is on physical oceanography and coastal processes, which involves conceiving solutions that involve remote sensing, field measurements and numerical modelling of waves, currents, tides and coastal morphology. Over a broad career in both the public and private sectors, he developed several different activities that ranged from data acquisition and application design, to team management and business development. Within his current role, he leads the identification and analysis of user requirements for EO-based maritime and coastal applications, acting as a liaison between the technical teams and all the engaged stakeholders. Pedro works towards solutions to increase the social resilience necessary to face the challenges of a world in fast transformation, always using the latest available scientific and technological resources.

 

 

 

 

João Neves, Aerospace Manager, Thales Edisoft Portugal, S.A.

João Neves, is the Aerospace Manager at Thales Edisoft Portugal, S.A.
He holds a Master of Science in Electronics and Computers Engineering and a bachelor in Weapons and Electronics Engineering by the Naval Academy. Prior to joining Thales Edisoft he served at the Portuguese Navy as a Navy Officer Engineer for almost 23 years having participated in several missions in the Portuguese maritime territory and abroad. He also served at the MoD-Armaments Directorate, being responsible for the Research and Development area at the Portuguese MoD, working on the development of the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) Program and with a close relationship with the European Defence Agency (EDA), NATO Science and Technology Organization and the European Commission, namely for the H2020 program. He was a professor at the Naval Academy in the areas of Telecommunications, Computer Networks, Signal processing and Radars. Currently he has been responsible for the development of the Space programs at Thales Edisoft Portugal, comprising the Ground Systems, with special focus on the Santa Maria Teleport, the continuous provision and development of advanced and operational EO services, being continuously provided for more than 15 years, and also in the development of onboard satellite systems, being the AEROS-MH1 satellite the most recent example.

Announcement coming soon!

 

 

 

 

 

Rúben Santiago, Hyrdographic Institute

Rúben Santiago, possesses a solid academic foundation in Geographic Engineering, having earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon in 2017. Following the completion of his undergraduate studies, Santiago embarked on a career path within the Portuguese Navy, where he underwent officer training at the Naval School in 2018 and is now a Second Lieutenant. After entering the Navy, Santiago furthered his expertise by pursuing a postgraduate degree in Geographic Information Systems and Sciences at the NOVA Information Management School, completing his studies in 2022. Driven by a genuine enthusiasm for geospatial technology, Santiago currently serves as a geospatial information analyst at the GEOMETOC Centre of the Portuguese Navy. In this role, he responsibly oversees various aspects of geospatial information management, including data integration, processing, and dissemination. Santiago is responsible for developing geospatial web services and supporting infrastructure, contributing to the operational effectiveness of the Navy. His focus lies in utilizing a wide range of geospatial data, including satellite imagery, geographical information systems (GIS), and other georeferenced information of interest, to enhance situational awareness for maritime operations. Through his diligent analysis of geospatial data, Santiago provides valuable insights that inform decision-making processes within the Navy. He also collaborates on geospatial projects aligned with both military and non-military objectives, demonstrating his commitment to supporting the organization’s mission

 

 

 

 

Mário Caetano, Coordinator Researcher and Deputy Director-General of Direção-Geral do Território (DGT)

Mário Caetano is a Researcher of the Public Administration since 1992. Currently he is a Coordinator Researcher of Direção-Geral do Território (DGT) and he is the Deputy Director-General since 2014. He is also an invited Full Professor at NOVA Information Management School (IMS), Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

He Coordinated and/or collaborated in 40 research and consultancy projects and he is author of more than 200 publications in books, journals and conference proceedings. Mário Caetano has more than 30 years of teaching experience in university courses.

Mário Caetano has a degree in Forest Engineering from the Lisboa University of Technology (1989), a MSc in Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1995), a Ph.D. in Forestry (2000) from the Lisboa University of Technology, and Habilitation in Information Management from ISEGI-NOVA (2013).

John Rodrigues, Director Business Development, INOV

John Rodrigues is Director at INOV, a leading private Portuguese research and technology institute, as well as a member of the Executive Board of EARTO (European Association of Research and Technology Organisations). He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Association of Security & Defence Industries (DANOTEC) for 8 years (until 2020). In line with his current duties, he coordinates the business development activities of INOV, striving to keep the success rate among the highest in Europe. He has a degree in electronics and computer science from the Technical University of Lisbon.