EarthDaily Awarded Canadian Government Contract to Develop AI-Enabled Border Monitoring Demonstration Platform

SMATAK project will explore how daily satellite data, artificial intelligence and operational alerting tools can strengthen situational awareness for Canadian border monitoring

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EarthDaily Analytics (EarthDaily) today announced that it has been awarded a contract by the Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) to lead the Space-based Monitoring, Alerts and Tactical Awareness Knowledge (SMATAK) project.

Funded through the Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP), the multi-year research and development initiative is being conducted in collaboration with DRDC and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The project will evaluate how commercially available satellite data, artificial intelligence and geospatial technologies can enhance situational awareness for border monitoring.

SMATAK builds on nearly a decade of research collaboration between EarthDaily, DRDC and the RCMP, including the Maritime Cueing of Optical Satellites (MarCOS) and Satellite Border Surveillance (SBS) projects. The new project advances that work through an integrated demonstration platform designed to deliver AI-enabled intelligence to analysts and simulated field users.

EarthDaily will design, develop and demonstrate an end-to-end technology pilot integrating daily satellite data, AI-powered change detection, an analyst Alert Centre, ArcGIS and the Tactical Awareness Kit (TAK) ecosystem. The system will be designed to identify and communicate potential changes or activities of interest through near-real-time alerts.

The demonstration will assess how consistent Earth observation data and automated analysis can improve awareness from national and regional operations through to field-level and analytical workflows. It will also examine how satellite-derived intelligence can be presented through tools already familiar to public safety personnel, supporting faster interpretation and more coordinated decision-making.

“SMATAK builds on nearly a decade of collaboration with DRDC and the RCMP to advance geospatial technologies for public safety applications,” said Chris Rampersad, Senior Vice President, AI & Analytics at EarthDaily. “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.”

Canada’s borders cover vast and often remote areas, creating complex requirements for monitoring and situational awareness. The SMATAK project will allow RCMP to assess how satellite-derived alerts and geospatial technologies complement existing information sources used by personnel to identify and evaluate activities of interest.

The Canadian Safety and Security Program is managed by DRDC’s Centre for Security Science. It supports science and technology projects that strengthen Canada’s ability to address public safety and national security challenges.

The project is scheduled to conclude with a final end-to-end demonstration in 2027. EarthDaily will provide technical recommendations and a feasibility assessment to help inform the RCMP’s consideration of potential future border-monitoring capabilities.

About EarthDaily

EarthDaily is a global Earth intelligence company delivering science-grade, AI-ready data, foundation models, and analytics for broad-area change detection. Powered by the EarthDaily Constellation and advanced AI, the company is creating the framework for daily, globally consistent Earth intelligence that helps governments and enterprises detect change, assess risk, and make faster decisions in complex, high-impact environments.

To learn more, visit earthdaily.com and follow EarthDaily on LinkedIn (@EarthDaily) and X (@EarthDailyA).

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