WGIC Blog

Maxar Technologies – Assisting in COVID-19 pandemic response efforts

Here is how WGIC member, Maxar Technologies has responded proactively in providing geospatial intelligence to global media to understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

WGIC Secretariat April 2, 2020
Denver International Airport during the COVID-19 crisis during March 2020

Here is how WGIC Patron Member Maxar Technologies has responded proactively during the COVID-19 crisis. Maxar is providing geospatial intelligence to global media to understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also providing with the Human Landscape datasets for organizations working in handling this crisis. Further, it is taking all the necessary steps to ensure its Earth Observation operations are not impacted. Here are the updates from them.

Global media – Using Satellite imagery to comprehend the COVID-19

According to a blog post  – Maxar’s News Bureau initiative is supporting news reporting efforts around the world, documenting significant events such as the rapid construction of hospitals in Wuhan, China; the quarantine of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan; and the dramatic drop in activity at transportation centers, businesses and public spaces around the world. Our analytics team in Tampa, Fla., created a Spotlight report that used satellite imagery, country-scale Human Landscape datasets, and crowdsourcing to assess where and how the coronavirus spread in Iran.

The Great Mosque and Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia from space during COVID-19 outbreak
The Great Mosque and Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, from space during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Human Landscape Monitoring for COVID-19

Analytics teams at Maxar are working on a specific version of ‘Human Landscape’ a curated set of geospatial data that are relevant to the COVID-19 Relief work. Maxar has developed a multi-layered Human Landscape data that is essential for disease modeling. The layers include medical facilities, demographics details, tourist attractions, cultural points of interest, roads, public transportation hubs, water infrastructure, recreational points of interest.

Webinar on Infectious Disease Response Planning with Geospatial Data

Mitigating operational risks

According to a blog post by Dan Jablonsky, Maxar Technologies President & CEO – Maxar has activated our standing pandemic crisis response plan to protect the health and safety of our team members, families, customers, and communities while continuing to meet our commitments to customers. Our mitigation strategies cover employee preparation, travel, supply chain, virtual-work readiness, facility preparation, and communications. All Maxar locations are currently operational through a combination of work from home and limited personnel working onsite for essential operations.