Pinoy analytics firm earns recognition at 2020 GEO SDG Awards

A Filipino startup company has received accolades at the 2020 Group on Earth Observations Sustainable Development Goals (GEO SDG) Awards.

CirroLytix Research Services, a data analytics firm, won the sectoral category award among for-profits due to its work in identifying potential dengue hotspots.

The company previously bagged the 2019 NASA International Space Apps Challenge award for Project AEDES, an automated tool which uses satellite spectral data, climate data from DOST-PAGASA, and Google search trends to predict dengue outbreaks.

"The dengue epidemic and the COVID-19 is a real threat to the Philippine society right now, endangering health, well-being, livelihood, and most especially businesses and the national economy," said Space Apps lead organizer in the Philippines Michael Lance Domagas.

"If we could only learn how to give value to science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM), the possibilities are endless," he added.

Another group of data analysts from CirroLytix duplicated the feat in the 2020 NASA Space Apps COVID-19 Challenge.

The team created an app prototype which measures the economic impact on countries using satellite data like night lights, nitrogen dioxide, and mobility data from COVID-19.

The NASA Space Apps Challenge is a three-day international hackathon where teams use NASA's open data in an effort to solve real problems on Earth and space.

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO), meanwhile, is a partnership of over 100 national governments and over 100 participating organizations.

It envisions "improved social, economic, and environmental sustainability" through the use of geospatial information. —MGP, GMA News