KEPLER: Spatial Analytics Cloud Platform

• Problem:

  • Climate Data analysis often requires specialized Geospatial, atmospheric science & spatial science skills which are scarce in government employees and also the non-profits

  • Climate data collection and analysis can be cumbersome and thus only performed a few times a year, if done manually, in a low-resourced setup like the governments and non-profits in India.
    

  • Climate change mitigation projects are eligible for climate credits (Carbon credits, Blue credits, Green credits etc.) but find it difficult to access the climate funds due to complex reporting pathways.
    

• As the climate change issue escalates , government and private organizations across the world are acting towards climate positive behavior, either voluntarily or under mandates. 

• All such climate-impact projects require a baseline information of their local environmental parameters which they ultimately want to positively impact, while also continually monitoring the impact of their implemented actions.
  

• Almost always it requires technical skills which are still scarce, especially with government agencies. 

• Additionally, government agencies need to capture and report the impact data to contribute towards national pledges towards climate change mitigation. This requires regular capture of such data and reporting, which is cumbersome with a lot of manual interventions.

• Progressive departments/agencies/organizations want to access climate credits (Carbon credits, Blue credits, Green credits etc.) to complement their work with a new revenue stream.

• While there are a lot of incentives through climate credits available globally, accessing them is complex due to a hyper fragmented ecosystem of players and policies. This often discourages organizations in harnessing such finance. 

• The EU ETS, one of the largest and most established carbon markets globally, has been steadily increasing over the years. For The total value of allowances traded in the EU ETS increased from around €90 billion in 2018 to approximately €200 billion in 2020. China and India have announced their own exchanges which will significantly add to these numbers. 

• The voluntary carbon offset market is also estimated to grow from $2 billion in 2022, to about $100 billion in next 10 years.
  

• We intend to work towards helping organizations to measure, monitor, manage and eventually monetize their projects aimed at climate impact mitigation. 

• KEPLER is a Geospatial intelligence platform which allows organizations to measure, monitor, manage and eventually monetize their climate change projects. 

• Key capabilities of Kepler:

  • Kepler has a pre-built library of use cases for the users to select from, for e.g., Urban Heat Island management, Urban Vegetation cover management, Air pollution management etc.

  • If their desired use case is not in the library, we build it with them and make it available in the library for all to use.

  • Once a module is selected, user defines the geographical area of interest. KEPLER automatically creates a satellite image data pipeline from the ESA/NASA or preferred source to supply images for analysis at regular intervals.

  • The user can also select any data sources for data layers that they want to add on top.

  • User can create reports to compare timeline analysis of the data and automate the reporting to desired users.

  • Monetization layer (Under development): We are working with partner organizations to build the monetization layer which will allow users to see what type of climate credits their project is eligible for. They will be able to select from a verified list of partner organizations to help them in accessing these credits through formal registration and reporting of the same. 

  • Thus, KEPLER simplifies complex data analysis through pre-built modules, negating the need for expertise. It automates the reporting to ensure monitoring of impact. And finally, it also enables monetization of those projects by educating  the user on the types of credits they have access to based on local policies, and connecting them with agencies that help them access the credits. 

• Current Status : 

  • We have already deployed KEPLERfor Urban Infrastructure management with the Govt of Chandigarh, under their climate change mitigation program.

  • We are developing modules for coastal area management to be deployed with the Govt of Puducherry. 

• We started our work with a focus on Urban projects since India is Urbanizing at an astronomical rate with progressive local governments. But we also received a sense of urgency from coastal area governments , since they are arguably the most vulnerable community wrt climate change.
  

• KEPLER is aimed towards serving all organizations that undertake projects aimed at mitigation of the impact of climate change.

• The primary users are: -
  

  • Govt organizations: especially the department of environment , department of energy , department of forestry etc. use the platform to launch their climate mitigation projects and monitor progress and impact of the same. 

  • Nonprofits working in Climate Change use the platform to measure the impact of their work and monitor progress. 

  • For profit organizations undertaking projects towards ESG compliance and management. They use the platform to automate reporting mandates under ESG.

  • Consulting companies working on Climate risk assessment, Net Zero strategy, Carbon Offsetting projects, Climate mitigation projects. They use the platform to help their clients in developing baselines for climate action and design the mitigation projects thereafter. They will also be able to help their clients in accessing climate finance through the monetization layer. 

  • Think-tanks and Universities can easily look at historical data for any geography for any module up to 10 years in the past and compare with current situation or develop projections for the future to induce climate action.

• Sparrow Analytics has developed a number of notable GIS based applications. This includes an award winning application for pandemic management during CoVid-19 pandemic and India’s first government-funded application for citizens’ carbon footprint calculation. 

• We have delivered projects for various departments of the government including Department of Environment, Department of Sports, Chief Minister's Office, and many more. We not only understand how to develop for India but also implement it in India, by leveraging the trust that has been built over the years with our partners in government.
  

• Our leadership team is a unique mix of multiple skills - GIS, Earth & Atmospheric Science, Spatial Science, Medicine, Public Health & Policy, Human Rights & Environmental Law and Tech Development. This team is primed to deliver solutions to complex challenges.

• KEPLER was delivered as an instance for the Environmental Research Initiative for Climate program of the Government of Chandigarh to bolster their climate change mitigation efforts.

• We are being approached by different Urban government agencies for similar solutions and so we decided to move from product to platform to make it faster, better and cheaper for deployment across geographies.

• Our next design and deployment of KEPLER is with the government of Puducherry, which is a unique coastal urban economy with rich & vibrant culture, a mix of Indian, Portuguese and French heritage. 

• One of our team members belongs to the region and has extensive knowledge of the area. She brings in the cultural and contextual understanding that is key to any of our interventions since the policies that will be influenced by KEPLER need local support for deployment

• Thus, we not only have the technical expertise to execute the science and the political will for deployment, but also have unique incisive understanding of local sensitivities which will ease implementation.

• We have already deployed one instance of KEPLER with the Government of Chandigarh for Urban infrastructure management. It is serving the department of environment and over 1.5 million citizens of Chandigarh for about 8 months now. So the framework architecture has been established and field-tested. 

• The aim is to now build upon the same framework architecture to develop new use cases targeted at managing coastal urban ecosystems. 

• We are growing in scope by adding more use cases as modules that are to be eventually offered to all users of Kepler. 

• Additionally we are adding the monetization layer which will help our client organizations to work with partner agencies to access climate finance funds like carbon credits.

• MIT Solve is one of the largest platforms for developmental tech solutions. We have been fortunate to have been associated with the forum as Solvers since 2020, and highly appreciate the support and exposure thereof.

• Since our product is geared towards coastal ecosystems, we hope to interact with fellow solvers as well as MIT Solve’s networks in coastal and vulnerable communities. We are looking for partners who would collaborate with us to deliver the solutions in their local geographies. This is our new market entry strategy and we fully understand that it cannot be achieved without the relevant local partnerships, given that cultural and regional understandings are the cornerstones of such policy work.

• Additionally we are also seeking funding towards developing new capabilities on our platform which can be offered pro bono to government agencies who do not have the budget for the technology to begin with. We have often seen that government agencies are wary of new tech but do adopt the same if given at no cost for a limited time which allows them to be comfortable with the platform and they eventually start seeing its worth.

• The funding will allow us to offer our services at no cost to coastal government agencies as a proof-of-concept model. Then they can budget it out in their next financial planning round.

• KEPLER has many innovative capabilities

  • Easy to use GIS based intelligence for monitoring and analyzing impact of climate through various use cases, without the need for complex technical knowledge of spatial or environmental sciences.
    

  • Pre-built modules for deployment of use cases by simply selecting geography and connecting data pipelines.

  • Automatic satellite data capture from international sources like ESA and NASA.

  • Automatic generation of reports and alerts by design.

  • Monetisation layer to provide access to climate credits.

• KEPLER offers full cycle service to the agencies from measuring, monitoring, managing and even monetizing their projects, if possible. We truly believe that the monetizing layer will  be a key differentiator. Use cases will now be mapped at source, to different climate related financial instruments (carbon credits, green credits, biodiversity credits, blue credits etc) based on eligibility, to enable generation of climate finance for organizations, augmenting their climate change mitigation efforts.

• Climate aware or climate sensitive bodies/organizations will anyway be motivated to adopt this versatile tool while those organizations that have generally been lagging will also see this new revenue stream as an added incentive, and come on-board, thereby leading to a higher access to funding for climate impact projects and higher utilization of these funds globally.

• While working on climate change impact projects, we saw the discontinuities in full data life-cycle - from data gathering to analysis, and finally to dissemination. The government agencies were helpless given the scarcity of skilled manpower and low percolation of technology & spatial science in their everyday tasks.

• Also, we were approached by government agencies that wanted a tool to measure and monitor their mitigation efforts and were also interested in the Climate/Carbon credit harvesting for their solutions. We went out in the market looking for consultants to streamline the “Access to carbon markets” but found a hyper-fragmented ecosystem with complex policies and dynamically changing laws. That is when we realized that we need to evolve our service offering from just measurement-analysis-predict paradigm to a more comprehensive measurement-analysis-predict-monetize-climate-action paradigm.  
  

• Theory of change : 

  • By making it easy for organizations to measure and monitor climate impact using technology and in a largely automated mode of operation, adoption of climate mandates will be faster. 

  • By helping govt agencies monetize their projects through climate credits, adoption of positive climate activity will be high even in smaller economies/geographies where climate action is voluntary at best and non mandatory.

• Activities

  • Deploy KEPLER platform with different government agencies and relevant private organizations.

  • Keep adding modules to the platform to be available to all agencies.

  • Add monetization layer and partner ecosystem for government agencies to access funding for climate change mitigation projects.
    

  • Add knowledge hub of climate mitigation projects and policies tagged to the different use cases.

• Outputs

  • Increased adoption of Kepler in government agencies and climate action organizations.

  • Increase in number of use cases and modules within Kepler.

  • Increase in the number of Organizations , and total number of eligible projects applying for relevant climate credits.

• Outcomes

  • Higher number of climate mitigation projects being designed and delivered 

  • Faster progression to Carbon neutrality and Positive Climate change

• Goal 1 : Increased adoption of climate impact measurements by organizations

  • Number of organizations activated Year-on-Year (YoY) for climate impact measurement by deploying the Kepler platform

  • Number of use cases / modules being developed and deployed YoY
    

  • Number of new use cases being developed annually

  • Number of repeat utilization of use cases by multiple agencies

• Goal 2 : Increased access to Climate positive finance to govt agencies 

  • Number of climate mitigation projects activated for Climate positive finance
    

  • Number of partner organizations on-boarded for Climate Finance facilitation YoY
    

1. Platform-as-a-Service (PAAS): Our offering is packaged as a platform that can be accessed via web, even with a moderate internet connection, doing away with the need of cumbersome software installations.
   
2. Geographic Information System (GIS) & Spatial Science: The platform combines elements of GIS with mathematical underpinnings of Spatial Science.
3. Big Data: The platform is able to handle raster datasets, vector files and many other data types of varying sizes and complexity.
4. Machine Learning: Wherever the process requires, the platform has Machine Learning tools readily available, for even more incisive data insights and predictive modeling.
5. Satellite Image Processing: Big blocks of data in form of raster pixels are processed and rendered on the platform, using in-house developed algorithms.
6. Cloud Technology & Web Deployment: The platform is entirely cloud-native and is accessible via web browser on any device.
7. IoT deployment: There exists a potential for on-ground sensor data capture, wherever applicable, through the IoT pathway.

Full time staff: 5

Part time staff: 5

Advisor(s): 2

Work on KEPLER has been ongoing for about 18 months now.

• The team comprises of people with a wide range of capabilities and experiences. Aditya and Ketan come from a tech background (GIS and Dev ops respectively) while Debanshu comes from a policy and strategy background having worked extensively with national governments of 4 countries.

• The new addition to the team - Svetlana, has an eclectic experience in Policy Advocacy and Program implementation. She also comes with an incisive understanding of coastal ecosystems since she belongs to that community.

• The team is distributed across different states, with many preferring to work from their rural homes to cater to family responsibilities. In post-pandemic world, we have built organizational systems to incorporate remote working for all employees.  

• The team members also enjoy flexible working hours especially for some members who are new parents with young kids or have senior dependents at home.
  

• Sparrow Analytics' employee code also incorporates the 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights', that each employee has to uphold. This explicitly states that discrimination of any kind, on the basis of caste, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, linguistic group etc. is strictly forbidden.

• This code is reflected in our team composition where all major religions of the world are represented, along with the presence of linguistic and ethnic diversities.

• The business model has evolved since we began and it still is evolving, as we develop the product further.

• Initial projects were grant funded, but since then we have moved to revenue generating projects with government agencies, billing for our products & services.

• The model is now due to shift towards a subscription model for organizations to use the platform. 

• However, new modules or use-cases being developed as part of in-house research will be funded by the organization, and they will be made available in a limited way, for all existing users to use with their own data. Thereafter, they tool shall be brought under the billed product umbrella.
  

• Government agencies or private entities: 

  • Pay Setup cost for on-demand customization or creation of new modules.
    

  • Continue to pay subscription service for modules already deployed.

• Future financial models under development

  • Climate Finance access discovery subscription fee for government agencies

  • Commission based model for Climate Consulting firms to access organizations with climate mitigation projects

• As we evolve our offerings and the product, we are open to newer models of business which help in delivering the services with the aim of increased access.

• We are financially sustainable as an organization. We are bootstrapped and work with Grants and Contracts and have not raised any funds by diluting equity, as of now. We have always maintained about 18 months of cash reserves for operations as a metric of sustainability. 

• We use grants to provide our services pro bono for a limited time to govt agencies after which they shift to a revenue based billing model. This has worked so far in us getting repeat projects from Department of Environment as a key client. Additionally, this has led other departments to approach us for their projects which are revenue generating from the get go. This includes the Department of Solar Energy and Department of Sports.

• Since past 2 years, 100% of our operating income has come from revenue generating projects. 

• Additionally climate based projects have also been solicited from government agencies elsewhere in India, like the Department of Environment, Puducherry. So there is a pipeline of projects that we are working on as well.
  

• This gives us the confidence in a steady revenue stream that sustains us operationally and also strategically that we are able to invest in developing further use-cases and going to newer geographies.

• We are moving to a PAAS (Platform As A Service) model where we envision wider and faster adoption. But this will also mean spending on verticals like marketing and sales which till now was organic, which is where we might need a funding boost from grants to support us in the growth stage of the organization.