Geoscience Australia appoints the Long-Term Owner of the Digital Earth Africa Program.

Canberra, Australia – Geoscience Australia (GA) is pleased to announce that the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has been appointed as the Long-Term Owner of the Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) Program.

The appointment of icipe follows a comprehensive and competitive open tender process to award a services contract for the transition to long-term ownership of the program. Funded by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust (Helmsley Charitable Trust), the appointment marks a critical milestone in the journey to establish DE Africa as a fully African-owned and sustained initiative beyond March 2028, when fiduciary oversight will transfer from GA to the long-term owner.

Ms Alison Rose, Chief of Space Division, Geoscience Australia said: “We are thrilled with the outcome. icipe brings over 50 years of pan-African science-led development leadership, with expertise in designing, deploying, and maintaining scalable, secure, high-performance data platforms. icipe has demonstrated expertise in governance, leadership, resource mobilisation, stakeholder engagement and capacity building, aligned with DE Africa’s mission and vision, making icipe uniquely positioned to ensure DE Africa’s continuity and growth beyond March 2028.” 

Ms Rose also expressed her sincere appreciation for the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS) for its leadership as Interim Host since April 2024, guiding the program through a critical period during the process to secure a Long-Term Owner.

Dr Abdou Tenkouano, Director General of icipe, commented: “We are honoured to be appointed Long Term Owner of Digital Earth Africa. Since 2011, icipe has been at the forefront of applying Earth observations (EO) to address Africa’s most pressing challenges, making us a natural partner to enhance the DE Africa program. Our vision for DE Africa is not simply to ‘own’ it, but to strategically integrate it into a collaborative ecosystem that secures its future and expands its impact.”

Dr Tenkouano further stated: “Our commitment to retaining DE Africa’s identity as a pan-African initiative is paramount. We will prioritise African governance, leadership, user-driven science, partnerships, and capacity building to ensure the program remains relevant and responsive. We are confident that our strategic approach and unique positioning will ensure the program’s seamless continuity, accelerate and elevate its mission, and secure a sustainable future for DE Africa for years to come.”

The Helmsley Charitable Trust also welcomed the appointment. Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley Trustee, said:

“We remain unwavering in our commitment to Digital Earth Africa’s success. Our investment ensures DE Africa continues to leverage cutting-edge technology and science to provide a free, public-good, Earth observation data infrastructure that most African nations would otherwise not have access to. With informed decision-making, leaders can strengthen community resilience and accelerate progress toward sustainable development. Securing a long-term owner in Africa is a landmark step for keeping African interests at the forefront, increasing user adoption, expanding in-country impact, and fostering self-sustainment well beyond our grant.”

icipe will assume full operational management and delivery of Digital Earth Africa from 1 April 2026. DE Africa platform and services will remain fully operational throughout the transition between December 2025 through March 2026, with continued support for stakeholders.

During the transition period and beyond, the Digital Earth Africa community – including funders, partners and users – will continue to play a vital role in shaping the program’s future direction and development. 

Further information will be released in the coming days on Digital Earth Africa’s social media channels.

About Digital Earth Africa

Digital Earth Africa is a program that exists to improve the lives of people across the African continent by translating Earth observations (EO) into insights that will support sustainable development. 

Digital Earth Africa’s platform & services enable African governments, industry and decision makers to track changes across the continent in unprecedented detail. ​​This provides valuable insights for better decision making across many areas, including flooding, drought, soil and coastal erosion, agriculture, forest cover, land use and land cover change, water availability and quality, and changes to human settlements. ​

DE Africa goals:

• Livelihood strengthening – EO data will support more informed decision making at government, sectoral and other levels, contributing to direct and indirect benefits for individuals and communities.
• Economic development and job creation – through access to data for commercial products and services development, DE Africa will support business development and employment opportunities. 
• Digital transformation is advanced – through industry uptake and innovations, DE Africa will help to fuel the ongoing evolution of the digital economy in Africa.
• Development activities are more effective – DE Africa will support enhanced understanding of development challenges and solutions, and in so doing, strengthen collective impact and ability to assess progress towards national priorities, African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the UN SDGs.

Learn more at: http://www.digitalearthafrica.org.

About The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)

Established in 1970 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) is the only institution in Africa working primarily on insects and other arthropods. The icipe Vision and Strategy 2026-2030 sets out a commitment to world-class research and innovation across human, animal, plant, and environmental health within a One Health paradigm. Through this strategy, the Centre seeks to deliver nature-positive, affordable solutions to strengthen agri-food systems, improve global health, conserve biodiversity, and build resilience to climate change. Backed by strategic partnerships, strong capacity development and inclusive approaches, icipe aims to translate insect science into measurable impact, contributing to a sustainable bioeconomy, human capital development and improved livelihoods across Africa and beyond.

icipe also has a proven track record in transforming EO products into actionable Africa-focused solutions, alongside capabilities in coastal erosion assessment, mangrove mapping and drought monitoring. By integrating insect-based biodiversity monitoring and disease risk mapping, icipe brings a unique ecological and health perspective to DE Africa’s services. Notable examples include:

• Being the first African institution to implement an EO-based digital twin for crop production early warning – an innovation funded by the European Space Agency through a sub-contract with Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research.
• The use of DE Africa Analysis-Ready Data for species-specific larvae habitat mapping in Africa.
• The development of operational tools and advisories, such as the West and Central Africa (WCA) Early Warning system, delivering pest, drought, and weed forecasts to over 10,000 farmers.

Learn more at www.icipe.org.

Media Contact: Geoscience Australia Email: deafrica@ga.gov.au