Position summary

Under the supervision of the Project Leader, and in close technical coordination with the Technical Director on matters related to Copernicus data infrastructure, the Innovation and Space Ecosystem Coordinator leads the private-sector and innovation ecosystem dimension of Specific Objective 2 (SO2) of the EU-PH Digital Economy Package, implemented by Expertise France and co-funded by the European Union under the Global Gateway strategy and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He/she is responsible for establishing and monitoring the SO2 action plan, partnerships, budget execution, delivery and results, and leads day-to-day implementation in accordance with the agreed strategic orientations and work plan.

The Innovation and Space Ecosystem Coordinator is responsible for fostering the adoption of Earth Observation (EO) and Copernicus data by the Philippine private sector, and for structuring PhilSA's engagement with start-ups, corporates, business support organizations (BSOs) and the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem. A significant share of the corresponding activities (ecosystem assessments, roadmap design, incubation programme delivery, matchmaking and open-innovation events) is delivered through external service providers and consultants. The Innovation and Space Ecosystem Coordinator identifies the needs, defines the technical specifications, oversees the selection of these service providers and manages their contracts and deliverables, while directly supervising the Corporate and Start-up Engagement Officer, who supports the day-to-day coordination between this network of providers and beneficiaries. While the Technical Director is responsible for the technical infrastructure underpinning SO2 (computing capacities, disaster recovery, technical platform), the Innovation and Space Ecosystem Coordinator is responsible for the ecosystem, entrepreneurship and private-sector adoption dimension of the same Specific Objective, and the two roles coordinate closely to ensure coherence between the technical and ecosystem tracks.

The Innovation and Space Ecosystem Coordinator will notably be responsible for:

1. Component strategy and coordination

• Define and steer the implementation strategy of SO2, in particular the private-sector and innovation ecosystem activities, in line with the project's contractual framework and results framework, developping and updating its action plan, and assuming responsability for the component delivery;
• In coordination with the Technical Director and support staff, translate the component strategy into annual and quarterly work plans, priorities, milestones, resource needs and procurement and grant schedules, organise implementation and adjust sequencing within the approved framework;
• Identify the service providers and consultants required to deliver the component's activities, define their technical specifications and terms of reference, and organize their selection in coordination with the project's procurement function;
• Coordinate the various service providers and consultants mobilized on the component, ensuring their work is sequenced coherently, remains aligned with the overall strategy, and is delivered to the expected quality and timeline;
• Lead the identification and prioritization of private-sector user need and business use cases, ensuring coherence and sequencing between the ecosystem-building activities (roadmap, EO Data Lab Platform's service dimension, incubation, corporate engagement) and the underlying technical infrastructure delivered under the Technical Director's responsibility;
• Advise the Project Leader on the strategic orientations, risks and opportunities related to the development of the Philippine EO private-sector ecosystem;
• Ensure regular dialogue with Philippine stakeholders, to keep the component's strategy under review in light of the evolving needs of PhilSA, DOST-ASTI, start-ups, corporates and business support organizations.
• Identify delivery risks, propose and implement mitigation measures within his/her scope, and refer matters requiring strategic, budgetary or contractual arbitration to the Project Leader.

2. Co-development of PhilSA's roadmap for private ecosystem support

• Commission and steer the service provider(s) in charge of designing a set of recommendations outlining concrete actions, partnerships and support mechanisms to strengthen PhilSA's engagement with the entrepreneurial ecosystem;
• Define the scope and oversee the comprehensive assessment of private-sector needs for EO data services and the mapping of competencies across the innovation landscape and relevant expertise;
• Review and validate that the roadmap delivered by the service provider(s) highlights national innovation support tools and proposes targeted recommendations to better integrate EO-related services into existing programmes and funding streams;
• Coordinate this activity, and the providers delivering it, with the incubation-capacity strengthening activity (see below), ensuring alignment between policy-level support and on-the-ground implementation;
• Explore synergies with established entrepreneurial support programmes such as CASSINI (DG DEFIS), to connect EU technology providers and Philippine counterparts through trade fairs and expos.

3. Strengthening EO entrepreneurship through incubation

• Commission and steer the ecosystem maturity assessment and the mapping of innovation support programmes relevant to EO adoption;
• Define the terms of reference and oversee the delivery of a dedicated EO-focused incubation programme with a network of interested business support organizations (BSOs), including a Train-the-Trainers offer and technical assistance to strengthen BSOs' internal capacity to guide start-ups developing EO-based services;
• Ensure the selected service providers facilitate peer-exchange and networking activities, to share practices and connect incubators with relevant actors, including investors and end-users;
• Oversee the selection and support, by the contracted incubation provider(s), of Philippine MSMEs in a dedicated EO capacity-building programme, focused on advancing prototypes or business concepts integrating Earth Observation and environmental data;
• Facilitate the mobilization of European expertise, know-how and open-source tools in complement to local BSOs' services, and foster sustainable technical partnerships and twinning arrangements with specialised EU-based ESOs;
• Oversee the preparation and implementation of financial support mechanisms for participating BSOs and start-up grants, and review award and implementation modalities as required in light of the time available for implementation and closure, in close coordination with the support staff and EF HQ.

4. Open innovation and corporate partnerships under the Global Gateway strategy

• Establish structured EU-Philippines innovation partnerships to accelerate the deployment and market uptake of EO-based and climate-responsive solutions; define the objectives and delivery framework of the Open Innovation activity, delegating relevant operational tasks to the Corporate and Start-up Engagement Officer;
• Commission and oversee the organization of thematic workshops mapping key climate-sensitive sectors with corporates, innovation hubs and EO experts, to identify concrete operational pain points addressable with EO-based tools and services;
• Design and oversee open innovation mechanisms and targeted matchmaking between European EO service providers and Philippine corporates;
• Steer the joint Proof-of-Concept projects between selected Philippine corporates and European EO service providers assessing their viability and paving the way for demonstration projects or scaled-up investments;

5. Team, budget and service-provider management

• Directly supervise the Corporate and Start-up Engagement Officer, who supports the day-to-day coordination of the network of service providers and consultants mobilized on the component: define workplans, set priorities, review deliverables and provide day-to-day guidance and quality control;
• Develop the operational and contractual framework of the component's activities (roadmap, incubation, matchmaking, corporate engagement), in coordination with the Project Leader , support staff and EF HQ: define the scope and packaging of services, proposed contracting or grant arrangements, terms of reference, deliverables, indicative budgets, acceptance criteria and payment milestones; identify potential providers, lead technical evaluations and oversee contract delivery, following Expertise France and EU rules;
• Ensure the sound execution of the budget allocated to the ecosystem, incubation and corporate-engagement activities under his/her responsibility, in coordination with the Project Leader and the project's support functions; provide input to regular budget forecast and planification exercises, and report regulargly to the Project Leader on progress, results, expenditure and risks, preparing proposals for decisions requiring strategic, budgetary or contractual arbitration.

6. Coordination with the Project Leader and project team

• Work in close and continuous coordination with the Project Leader and the HQ to ensure full coherence between the ecosystem strategy and the project's overall strategic, operational and financial management;
• Coordinate with the Technical Director on all matters where the ecosystem activities depend on, or affect, the underlying data and computing infrastructure;
• Coordinate with the Digital Advisor on digital economy and cross-cutting digital policy matters relevant to the innovation ecosystem;
• Lead component monitoring and consolidate SO2inputs to progress, technical and financial reports submitted to the European Commission and Expertise France, under the overall responsibility of the Project Leader, and in collaborationwith the MEAL officer and other support staff;
• Contribute content to the project's visibility and communication activities, in line with EU and Global Gateway guidelines, under the Project Leader's overall coordination.