Richard Komlan Folly works as a data scientist with a focus on geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.
He established the African Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (AGIA), a research and development company for aeronautical goods, to develop geospatial and space technology for accomplishing the SDGs in Africa.
Quick Facts
Full Name
Richard Komlan Folly
Awards
- Tremplin Startup UEMOA. Chambre de Commerce de l’Industrie Togo. …
- Alibaba eFounders Fellowship.
- Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.
- Laureate New Media Innovation in West Africa.
- Laureate Best Technological Innovation for Climate Challenge in Africa.
Nationality
African, Lomé, Togo
Place of Birth
Lomé, Togo
Fields of Expertise
Geospatial Data Scientist
Institutions
Educated at the Université de Lomé, Togo (B.S. in Geography ) and Arizona State University (Certificate in Public Administration), early intern at NASA, founder of African Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (AGIA)
Contributions
For over 10 years, Komlan has been actively involved in technological, commercial, and educational efforts throughout Africa, the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Partnerships with government agencies, diplomatic positions, international organisations, and commercial enterprises such as the World Bank, NASA, True Africa University, Ministries in Togo, and True Africa University demonstrate his extensive knowledge.
Early Life- Who is Richard Komlan Folly?
Komlan had a dream as a little child in which he was on a spacecraft that had touched down on the moon.
From the dream was a huge thrill and happiness at reaching such a high height. It served as the foundation of his BIG dream. After that, he went ahead to read a lot about space exploration, geospatial technology, and thrilling adventures.
Elon Musk’s vision of utilizing SpaceX to develop mankind as a multi-planet species truly intrigued him. It showed him that there are no limits to what one may achieve.
His participation in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), provided him with the exceptional opportunity to have a Professional Development Experience at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama. This was a watershed moment in his pursuit of the necessary knowledge and experience in the field.
He learned a lot from the Centre for Geospatial Technology and Disaster Risk Management. As a consequence of his regular meetings with the great staff and colleagues at the Space, he continues to learn and get support from the PDE network.
He also had the opportunity to visit the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at Arizona State University (ASU) in Phoenix, where he was able to examine relics from the Moon, the Mars Exploration Rovers, and more.
He had a personal chat and idea-sharing session with a NASA/ASU Space Grant Programme staffer. All of those opportunities have had a deep and positive influence on his excitement for the space business.
Career
Education and Early Start at The African Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (AGIA)
Komlan used to write poetry before learning to code. He attended literary studies in high school. Contrary to his teachers’ and classmates’ assumptions that he would study history, he chose to study geography when he initially enrolled in college and has since completed his bachelor’s degree. He felt confident in his aims. That’s when he discovered his passion for computer science.
This transversal and multidisciplinary background, like the place itself, has assisted him in understanding and being exposed to the power of diversity. In addition, he was able to reinforce his desire to stand out.
Creating AGIA
AGIA is a corporate aerospace company that was founded to address Africa’s most pressing and pressing concerns.
They are committed to preserving lives, improving livelihoods, and increasing climate resilience throughout Africa via work in public health, agriculture, defense, natural resource management, weather forecasting, disaster response, and other areas.
Their mission is to improve the standard of living for everyone on the continent and to build communities. AGIA wants geospatial technology to be accessible to all Africans.
They could observe the dawn to determine whether or not it would be a sunny day, the sky to forecast rain, and the movements of specific birds to distinguish the seasons. They examined the humus to anticipate soil nutrients and moisture.
By using those facts to guide their daily decisions, they were able to create a thriving agricultural industry, safeguard their harvests, plan their travels and relocations, build sturdy homes, towers, and even pyramids that stood the test of time, arrange the birth of new members of the community, and many other events and activities.
As climate change disrupts natural order and defies the rules that were used to predict the future, it is their obligation as current scientists to develop new methods of conserving the knowledge and resources that people require to survive. AGIA’s big data and geospatial technology offered the answer.
The construction of a multi-petabyte archive of satellite photos and geographic information, as well as the ability to study data at the planetary scale, characterizes our century.
Projects and Solutions of AGIA
AGIA is developing a soil sampling tool that will be integrated with long-term weather forecasting, in addition to farmers and their partners, insurance companies, banks, disaster management professionals, and numerous other sectors of activity that rely on weather and climate data, such as recreation, culture, transportation, public health, maritime intelligence, and local businesses.
What is Richard Komlan Folly Known For?
Komlan, a tech enthusiast and entrepreneur, worked as a free consultant for the United States Embassy in Togo, teaching journalists about data journalism and young girls about computer programming.
He worked with the Togolese government’s Ministry of Posts and Digital Economy as a GIS and communications expert.
As his career progressed, he was hired as a consultant to assist the Togolese Red Cross, in collaboration with the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and Red Cross & Red Crescent Climate Centre specialists, in developing an Early Warning System (EWS) for the collection and analysis of hydrological, rainfall, and climatic data, as well as an Automated SMS System that can feed crowd-sourced flood data into a self-learning, algorithmically-based forecast model (FUNES).
As a member of the management team for MoLab, a mobile science and technology laboratory project developed by the United States Embassy in Togo, Komlan dedicated a portion of his time to continuously training hundreds of students in planetary sciences and geospatial technology, inspiring young people throughout the country. This was inspired by his enthusiasm for STEAM and the exchange of information and experiences.
Komlan was selected as a Mandela Washington Fellow by the US Department of State in 2017, and he studied public administration at Arizona State University for six weeks.
He also undertook a Professional Development Experience (PDE) at the SERVIR and Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Centre at NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama as part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship.
Komlan is leading the African Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (AGIA) in Togo, a country that lacks a space program and support equipment. AGIA will soon be ready to launch a satellite and take the lead in the Togolese space sector.
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