The Institute aims to promote the sustainable growth of Angola and Mozambique in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa through the development and implementation of digital systems that promote the modernization of public administration, together with energy sustainability, sustainable and healthy urban expansion, sustainable use of land and the blue economy. It will operate in collaboration with the sustainable development of the agro-food sector.

Its creation and implementation follows demographic dynamics in an increasingly digital age supported by advanced Earth Observation systems integrated with information acquisition and processing systems. The Institute's activity will include the development and application of new forms of "Responsible Artificial Intelligence" (i.e., "Responsible AI"), as well as the digital planning of territories and social and economic activities through "digital twins".

The Institute is intended to promote an inclusive and green transition in the emerging digital age, using new space Earth Observation systems in order to promote Sustainable and Healthy Territories through research and innovative social practices, together with the creation of new jobs and initiatives that encourage the ecological transition of the economy and society and the understanding of the dynamics emerging in sub-Saharan Africa, giving full priority to “Human Agency”[1].

The Institute will leverage and expand current initiatives and networks of the Atlantic International Research Centre – AIR Centre in Angola, in order to help strengthening regional cohesion and networks in Sub-Saharan Africa, including a close articulation with existing services in South Africa.

The installation of the Institute includes a gradual and multi-annual work plan, aimed at implementing and promoting three lines of action, namely: i) Innovation, through a network of collaborative laboratories in various regions of Angola and Mozambique, involving local actors to stimulate new knowledge and innovation activities; ii) observation, namely of land usage, soils and carbon monitoring, as well as of forms of innovation focused on communities and dynamics of sustainable and healthy territories; and iii) capacity building, at individual and institutional levels.

The overall project is under assessment in association with an investment effort by the Portuguese cooperation in articulation with European and international programs for cooperation with the Global South.