This proposal will consolidate a partnership between UK-registered business and research organisations, and Swiss SME Farmer Connect. All of the partners in the proposal have been in contact for at least 2 years, and in the case of Trade in Space (TIS) and Farmer Connect, the first stages of technical product integration under the framework of a commercial product partnership agreement have been explored. All of our partners have developed software and services which add value to forest-commodity producers, and enhance opportunities for sustainable production of the most widely imported agriculture products in both the UK and Switzerland. Trade in Space has produced satellite-based services to monitor deforestation risk with agri-commodity supply chains, including coffee and cacao production landscapes. Farmer Connect has created highly innovative data-capture and distribution frameworks based on blockchain based architecture; the company is a global leader in the delivery of farmer-centric digital identity and product traceability services. Other project stakeholders CABI and Assimila have created earth-observation data driven models to monitor pest and disease risk at coffee agriculture sites. The University of Leicester's National Earth Observation Centre has developed an enhanced deforestation monitoring capability which increases the accuracy of industry-standard, open-source deforestation monitoring algorithms. Together our partnership offers a chance to lead the world in deliver of deforestation monitoring services, whilst also adding value with supporting information on pest and disease risk, digital product traceability combined with opportunities to directly communicate - and financially transact with smallholder farmers. There unprecedented commercial, environmental, and socially-driven demand for these services as the full weight of climate change, and climate change mitigation efforts are brought to bear on some of the worlds most fragile small-holder agriculture communities. By combining our services, we will offer an easily accessible route beyond simple compliance to globally emerging sustainability regulations: The core elements of the project will include: 1. Technical Integration and test of partners' highly innovative software service products and creation of an combined service product offering. 2. Further coffee pest and disease model validation of critical coffee pest and disease in new geographies and landscapes. 3. Further validation and ground accuracy assessment of various satellite EO powered deforestation models, with ground verification of accuracy . 4. Real-life deployment and test of integrated service characteristics with a coffee farming co-operative, raising research TRL to 9\. 5. Commercial Roadmap to further develop project outputs and deepen collaborative product development opportunities.

Trade in Space are developers of innovative supply chain software for the coffee and cacao markets. Our flagship product called Sustainimaps processes earth observation imagery, and peer reviewed datasets to provide meaningful insights and visualisation of agricultural supply-chains sustainability performance. This software is currently in use monitoring over 250,000 assets. We have supplemented our technology offering with a mobile data collection tool called Digitrak, which is currently in use by one of the world's largest cacao producers. This mobile tool tracks cacao from the farmer through the supply chain, to the processing facility creating true bean-to-bar traceability. Our products have become even more relevant throughout 2022 and into 2023 as the EU have recently announced legislation requiring all importers of key commodities to confirm the originating farm is deforestation free. There are a number of challenges to this new legislation for coffee and cacao importers some of which Trade in Space has already addressed as part of our standard product offering, however, one of the biggest issues for importers of Coffee and Cacao is the lack of reliable digitised geolocation data for their origin farms. Many importers are scrambling to work with their supply chain to find a solution to obtain accurate, digital, verified geolocation data. Through this project will see Trade in Space create geolocation input software, which is backed by deep-learning verification models, and digitised into blockchain for passportability.

Trade in Space and Heroica International will investigate the feasibility of using remote data collection and analysis techniques to support small farms within South East Asia, and East Africa improve land management and gain additional income from carbon sequestration activities. The project will develop a framework for the launch of new products within this area which would enhance the environmental and financial sustainability of coffee agriculture in these regions. The approach incorporates assessing the: * Coffee agro-forestry systems in both the Philippines and Uganda * Applicable regulations * Carbon market structures, and also * Product development considerations The project methodology will determine these assessments by working in partnership with private, public and education stakeholders in both countries.

Coffee is the world's most consumed beverage, and the people of the UK drink an estimated 95million cups per day. Whilst directly fuelling approximately 210,000 jobs in the UK alone (most of which are furloghed at time of writing - May 2020), coffee businesses produce a direct GVA of £9.1 Billion per year approximately 80% of which is retained in country, with the indirect value and value of induced multipliers estimated to raise the value of the sector to £17.7 Billion. But there are huge challenges and threats to the sector around the world, most of which stem from the fact that coffee supply chains are complex; risks include volatile weather and climate effects in the tropics where the crops are grown; unsustainable often loss-making farming practices, and now, COVID-19 induced pressures on the retail sector. Trade in Space has developed technology which can improve the profitability and value of each part of the coffee supply chain and value chain, by automating and shortening the administrative burden and tracability of coffee as it makes it's way from Brazil to Birmingham, or from Guatemala to Glasgow.

"The value proposition which satellite applications bring to any commercial or societal problem is focussed around two core themes: 'telecommunication' and 'tele-observation'. Furthermore, by enabling long distance communication and long distance observational capabilities, satellites and especially modern satellite constellations, enable highly scalable networks, and ever faster information distribution -- one-to-many mass communication and observation; i.e. global telecommunication through cellular networks; global tele-observation of events. In 2017 alone major investments were made in start-ups in the field of earth observation data analytics; USD 50M was invested in Orbital Insight, and in the UK, GBP 2M invested in both Bird.i and Rezatec GBP 2M respectively; whilst established Earth imagery providers such as Planet, and Airbus, and DigitalGlobe have repositioned their offering towards value added analytics and information products as well as imagery alone. New telecommunication systems based on low-earth-orbiting mega-constellations such as those being developed by OneWeb, Sky and Space Global, SpaceX and Thales Alenia Space, offer new connectivity solutions to meet growing demand for data from any position on the globe, at any time of day, either in broadband, or narrowband to support the 'Internet of Things': In parallel to the market-led redefinition of satellite systems, the growth in terrestrial blockchain applications beyond secure payment and digital asset transfer alone, especially the development of open-access distributed application platforms is giving rise to new ways to create, store, and transfer information and digitally immutable assets. Blockchain applications and associated cryptographic digital asset recording methods, enable new ways to position satellites as near real-time commodity brokers, land-registrars, and legal dispute arbitrators where geolocational information is key. This Innovate UK funded project will enable Trade in Space and our partners -- Craft Prospect, a UK based Satellite Artificial Intelligence developer; to assess the feasibility of satellite generated datasets in smart contract blockchain applications, to create new ways of commercialising satellite data which were implausible until recently. For example, following capture of real-world user requirements, we will write prototype smart contracts in the following areas: \* Digital Asset Generation, supporting peer-to-peer exchange based on Satellite 'Proof of Observation. \* Automated Illegal Trespass Prosecution based on space verified communication signals \* Micro-leasing of satellite capacity to meet satellite network objectives. The value of the global market in each of these areas is expected to approximately double in the next 5 years, and our team intent to capture useful IP in this area on behalf of the UK taxpayer."