EarthDaily Analytics has been awarded a $2.23M contract from Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) to lead a multi-year border monitoring initiative. Funded through the Canadian Safety and Security Program, the project pairs commercial satellite imagery with artificial intelligence to test new geospatial intelligence applications for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The initiative is named the Space-based Monitoring, Alerts and Tactical Awareness Knowledge (SMATAK) project. The effort requires EarthDaily to design and demonstrate an end-to-end technology pilot. This pilot integrates daily Earth observation data with automated change detection algorithms to send near-real-time alerts to analysts and field operatives. The system will interface directly with established analytical platforms such as ArcGIS and the Tactical Awareness Kit ecosystem.
Canada manages extensive and geographically isolated border regions. These remote zones present distinct operational requirements for security personnel maintaining situational awareness. SMATAK aims to determine how space-derived intelligence can feed into the existing workflows of public safety agencies to streamline interpretation and coordinate field responses.
The contract stems from a decade of prior joint research involving EarthDaily, DRDC and the RCMP. Previous research and development initiatives included the Maritime Cueing of Optical Satellites (MarCOS) and Satellite Border Surveillance (SBS) projects. SMATAK pushes this foundational research into a practical demonstration phase geared toward active operational use.
Chris Rampersad is the senior vice president of AI and analytics at EarthDaily. He outlined the operational focus of the new platform.
“By bringing together consistent Earth observation data, artificial intelligence, AI-powered change detection and operational visualization tools, we are working with our government partners to evaluate new approaches for delivering timely, actionable intelligence to analysts and field personnel and supporting future border monitoring capabilities,” Rampersad said.
The SMATAK demonstration is slated to conclude in 2027. Following the final pilot, EarthDaily will deliver technical recommendations and a feasibility assessment. The RCMP will use this data to evaluate future procurement and operational strategies for domestic border monitoring.