DIN Innovators Award for Datacube Inventor Peter Baumann

DIN Innovation Award for Prof. Dr. Peter Baumann. Never before has so much information about the Earth been available to mankind. Every day, satellites provide an enormous amount of data, for example on the climate, on changes in the atmosphere, or land use. The "Din-Spec 18114" standard developed by Dr. Peter Baumann, Professor of Computer Science at Jacobs University Bremen, makes this data more readily available - and thus enables a multitude of new, societally relevant applications. Baumann’s groundbreaking work has now been recognized with the DIN Innovation Prize 2019 which is awarded by DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (German Institute for Standardization).

Baumann since long has been researching on the better use of geo data. The computer scientist has developed datacubes that can be used to group and homogenize millions of individual images along space and time. With Din-Spec 18114, developed in 2018, access to these datacubes is now standardized and simplified, users can access Petabyte-sized spatio-temporal data from their workplace. Previously, such analysis was reserved for experts with a high level of IT expertise.

In addition, the technique allows data from different sources to be combined freely, something previously only possible with a great deal of effort. "Datacubes boosts manifold applications, such as geo Machine Learning, improved disaster management, more accurate planning of harvests, or better monitoring of water supplies," says Baumann. National Din-Spec 18114 is also shaping the corresponding international standard by forming the basis for ISO 19123-1 which is currently being developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) with Baumann being editor.

The DIN Innovation Prize is awarded annually to recognize outstanding projects and commitments in standardization.