Space technology helps local governments save money

Satellite technology is revolutionising the way local governments manage infrastructure, and Estonian IT company Datel AS is at the forefront of this innovation.

Its early warning system, Sille.Space, uses data collected from satellites of the European Space Agency (ESA) to detect ground and infrastructure shifts and subsidences of up to 2-millimetre, providing accurate and timely information for decision-makers.

Tallinn city-planning office’s engineering department has successfully used Sille.Space to analyse its network of height benchmarks, identifying 13 out of 116 benchmarks that require re-leveling, and 6 unstable areas. This has enabled the Geodesy and Land Management Unit in Tallinn’s Urban Planning Department to make well-informed decisions about which parts of the height benchmarks need re-levelling, avoiding unnecessary and large-scale engineering tasks and saving hundreds of thousands of euros in costs.

Sille.Space is not a replacement for human expertise however, and the decision of whether the object in question needs re-levelling still needs to be assessed manually by a person who visits the location and inspects it themselves. Nevertheless, the technology has proven to be an ideal and cost-effective solution to notify humans if an object needs to be checked, helping local governments to more accurately schedule tasks ahead.

Datel’s Sille.Space is an innovative e-service that is set to transform the way local governments manage infrastructure. More information about how it can be used to level benchmarks can be found at https://www.sille.space/en/analysis-use-cases

Jaanis Lill, Head of Tallinn Geodesy and Land Management:
“Sille.Space allows the Geodesy and Land Management Unit in Tallinn’s Urban Planning Department to make well-informed decisions about which parts of the height benchmarks need re-levelling. It also enables us to avoid unnecessary and large-scale engineering tasks which in turn also helps to more accurately schedule tasks ahead. This allows us to save hundreds of thousands in costs. "