Today we are in the second phase of the TIGER Initiative (TIGER 2), which aims to build upon the success of the first one. It consists of two components:

• water management and
• research.

The TIGER Capacity Building Facility (TCBF) Phase 2 aims at supporting the research actions of the initiative. As a major component of this new phase, TCBF is devoted to support African scientists to develop the scientific skills and the technical capacity to make the best use of Earth Observation technology to better understand, assess and monitor the status of the water resources in Africa as well as the potential impacts of climate change, hence establishing sound scientific bases for developing effective adaptation or mitigation measures at political level in the continent.

The second phase is more complex than its forerunner, although the applied capacity building tools are similar to the first phase.

There is a larger variety of participating institutions, from universities to regional water authorities. It is a very important aspect that several projects address trans-boundary issues with multinational staff. The participating institutions and regional offices get free access to ESA satellite data. A large number of training activities are being implemented with the aim of broadening the EO literacy among the information users, i.e. the water practitioners, and providing higher academic qualifications to the key players in EO research and education, to enable them to teach new generations of EO specialists and users in Africa. Besides capacity building, these activities contribute to building a community that unites the users of earth observation technology for water applications around the continent.