In Tromsø city, and in Troms County, there are several nationally leading companies within the field of satellite based remote sensing. This is the result of a conscious long term build up of competence within the city, county and region. Through this establishment the centers of competence in this field, the northernmost areas of Norway has taken a national lead in research, technology and maintaining infrastructure within earth observation.
 
Tromsø Centre for Remote Technology was founded by the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Tromsø – the worlds northernmost university – the High North Research Centre (NORUT), Kongsberg satellite services(KSAT), Kongsberg Spacetech and the Norwegian Polar Institute, in January 2008.
 
 The Board of the centre consist of Alfred Hanssen (chairman), leader Insitute of Physics, Jan-Petter Pedersen vice director, KSAT, Kjell-Arild Høgda, research leader, earth observation, NORUT, Bjørn Kanck, Managing director, Kongsberg Spacetec and Stein Tronstad, Head of Data Management Section, Norwegian Polar institute.
 
 Pål Julius Skogholt is managing director of the centre.
 
Tromsø Centre for Remote Technology shall:

• Establish and maintain a common long term strategy for commercial development, research and innovation within the field of earth observation
• Support the partners in order to secure national and international tasks within research, development and operational issues
• Support the national efforts within the centers field of competence.
• Contribute to increased research within the commercial sector
• Contribute to solving relevant problems for the commercial actors, and support commercialization of these problems.
• Contribute to making the research institutions more available for the other parts of the centers activities and thereby making companies more capable of using research based knowledge, and lowering the threshold for the commercial actors in relation to using the research institutions for development of their own commercial ideas.