The 3D Approach to Building Resilience Across 3 Countries: Data-Driven Decision-Making

Gone are the days when sustainability initiatives move at a snail’s pace, cost a fortune, and often with outdated onground data. Today, governments and private companies worldwide are integrating advanced technologies into their workflows, gaining unprecedented Earth insights with faster processing times—all without compromising quality.

At Planet, we have long held the view that only when we uncover previously unseen changes on Earth can we take informed actions to drive meaningful changes. And it starts with local communities. They are at the forefront of these changes. With this in mind, we went directly to three cities in three countries in the Asia-Pacific to discuss with the frontliners of change, exchange insights, and bring ideas over for our common sustainability goals at our inaugural Planet Connect events in Tokyo, Hanoi, and Sydney.

Highlights from Planet Connect 

Discussions at the Planet Connect Tokyo event were focused on Japan’s vulnerability to natural disasters—especially infrastructure-damaging earthquakes and unpredictable typhoons—that lead to ongoing challenges. Despite their world-class disaster management strategies, not having the right data at the right time can have devastating effects particularly when climate change starts catching up with these systems.

The 2024 New Year’s Day earthquake in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture left a tragic rubble. Within days after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake, The Asahi Shimbun published a Planet satellite imagery of the seaside town. According to the article, “The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) analyzed the images and found the coastline in some areas in the bay had advanced about 200 meters offshore.” 

An accurate assessment of post-disaster areas, with the use of satellite imagery, can be crucial for recovery operations, efficient resource allocation, and mitigation planning for every emergency scenario.

At Planet Connect Sydney, the New South Wales government shared the NSW Imagery Hub that they launched in July 2023. The NSW Imagery Hub is a multidimensional data platform supporting 2,000 users in over 149 NSW government agencies and local councils. We were privileged to have Anthony Young, Senior Remote Sensing Scientist in the Spatial Imagery Services Team of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) share how integrating Planet data into their system improved emergency response, recovery and biodiversity programs across civil agencies. Young, in his presentation during Planet Connect Sydney, noted the usability of the data that enabled one of their important partners, the State Emergency Service to “support themselves during weekends and public holidays when the Imagery Hub staff are not available.” 

Additionally, as a new member of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA), we’re excited to strengthen our collaboration with local government organizations in Australia. For nearly three decades, the SIAA has been the national representative organization of the country’s space and Earth observation community and we look forward to supporting more sustainability programs leveraging our broad area management capabilities.

And finally, at Planet Connect Hanoi,  as Stephen Green, Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, noted in his opening remarks, “Commercial collaboration between the United States and Vietnam in the spirit of the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced in September 2023 is growing in an unprecedented manner and American companies like Planet are poised to make important contributions.” Inspired by solutions-oriented ministries and organizations, such as Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, we continuously look for more ways to collaborate and learn from regional governments to impact local initiatives. 

Discover local perspectives on using satellite data for disaster management in Asia-Pacific in our newest webinar series, the “Planet Webinar Series: Gov Insights Episode 1 – Saving Lives, Protecting Communities: The Power of Satellite Data for Disaster Management”.