Seeing green this project, seeing green, builds on the report, NASA on earth: advancing food, water, and safety for communities, by proposing to conduct six topical workshops to examine 12 business…

This federal contract award, with ID NNX16AM38G, was granted by the Shared Services Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to The Institute For Global Environmental Strategies, Inc. (IGES), a non-profit organization. The $158,688.91 grant is for the "Seeing Green" project, which aims to: 1) assess how NASA Earth observations enable economic activity in the non-governmental sector, 2) catalog how NASA data informs decision-making in 12 business sectors, 3) improve the accessibility and usability of NASA Earth observation data, and 4) enable NASA scientists to better understand industry trends. The project does not have a set-aside designation. IGES has received previous federal grants and contracts from NASA and the National Science Foundation for projects related to Earth and space science education, environmental issues, and mosquito-borne disease surveillance.

Seeing green this project, seeing green, builds on the report, NASA on earth: advancing food, water, and safety for communities, by proposing to conduct six topical workshops to examine 12 business sectors to: 1) develop the most comprehensive assessment of how NASA earth observations are enabling economic activity in the non-governmental sector; 2) catalogue how NASA earth observations are informing actions and decision making within those particular sectors; 3) determine ways to improve the accessibility and usability of earth observations (primarily NASA mission data) by convening business leaders and NASA scientists for an open exchange of ideas and experiences; and 4) enable NASA scientists to better understand industry trends and expose investigators to possible new subject areas with short, medium and long-term direct and indirect application in the non-governmental environment. Topics include agriculture, energy, financial services, health, housing, insurance, information technology, natural capital, real estate, tourism, transportation, and water. The project title, seeing green, was selected to capitalize on several ideas: the unique role of NASA in observing the earth and helping to see IT more clearly; the concept of green as IT refers to the environment, the economy, and specifically the economic return of government provided information for new private sector-developed products and services; and the symbol of a green light as a sign for forward motion.