Space Apps Challenge 2018

What the World needs now is...

Looking GLOBE-ally

This question asked by NASA ignited our imagination and produced a lot of ideas. Should we focus on issues like food-shortages, energy, humanitarian or environmental crises ? What and how to choose amid so many needs ?

This challenge submitted by Space Apps inspired us but also left us just 48 hours to pull up a pragmatic solution to resolve it. Impossible, isn't it ? And yet... If we are unable to do it alone, maybe dozens of people reunited to tackle these issues can. And what about hundreds of thousands collaborating around the globe ?

We choose this approach to highlight the unprecedented importance for international cooperation, keys to our survival in the face of the multiple challenges ahead of us.

This is how our project was born, with the will to provide limitless access to knowledge and encourage local and global cooperation everywhere, any time:COOPERA’SCIENCE.

---

WHAT IS COOPERA’SCIENCE ?

Coopera'Science is halfway between a social network and a participatory platform.

Inspired by TED Talks, Wikipedia and Space Apps, we want to facilitate access to tools and data provided by NASA, allowing the study and appropriation of Sciences by each and every one of us.

No one owns Sciences. Hence, no one should be kept away from it.

Through Space conquest and its practical implications, we propose with Coopera'Science a website where schools, universities, association clubs but also companies and individuals can register in order to be challenged by different intellectual problems.

---

HOW DOES IT WORK ?

Coopera'Science would allow, filling a profile signing up, to form groups based on different criteria like language, geolocation, difficulty level, expertise, interests and more.

Formed teams will share a scientific problematic and choose their own strategy. Conceptual popularization, study and understanding of existing solutions or research on technical innovations are just a few of the possible working methods.

For instance, imagine a high school class.

They would sign up via their teacher to study the Earth-Mars voyage and therefore, its implications, and would dedicate several months on the subject at a rhythm decided with the teacher and in direct link with the program.

Coopera'Science would provide various angles of reflection, open source databases and resources collected from different NASA's portals.

Now, imagine that same class working with another class. They would be able to do so with a class located anywhere in the world, promoting international cooperation, cultural exchanges and collective awareness on innumerable subjects.

Their challenge completed, they can proudly share their work on the platform, in free access for everyone to see and enjoy just like they can enjoy others’ work.

Even better, they get to challenge another class to complete their own challenge on the platform just like they have, and encourage them to team up with a school located at 10 or more than 2000 miles from them.

This initiative can be carried by anyone. A teacher, a kid, a parent… What matter is that the project is shared by the whole class, lifting the interest of the most reluctant, boiling those of the most passionate.

On the same schema, individuals, college students, experts and companies can contact each other and compete with or against each other.

→ The final intention ought to be making Science more attractive, understandable and less elitist on the platform using NASA’s data.

At some point, we would like to propose even more, like the implications of great YouTube channels or moderated CHATSwhere anyone can ask a scientific question and have an answer according to the level of expertise desired almost instantly.

All types of challenges and difficulty levels will be proposed, giving the opportunity to all, from small kids and adults to geeks and experts to enjoy Sciences from NASA's data, which can be quite... frightening.

But on Coopera'Science, Sciences are democratized, shared and understood, with open source data and productions available at any time. In addition, a growing network of voluntary experts and professionals will be available to help you in your ventures.

Here, Science is a pretext – and a great one ! – to add a human dimension to Science itself. And where there is human, there is culture, education, future… And we want to face this hopefully bright future together.

Now, join us and let's round up ourselves and our ideas around one universal theme, Science !

Clarisse Barbot, Anne Besson, CléaDubray, Paco Garcia and Ravel Lawson