IBM is leading a new initiative in urban resilience and climate adaptation. As part of this initiative, IBM has selected five nonprofits focused on urban sustainability for its two-year Sustainability Accelerator program, providing them with AI and cloud computing resources to enhance their missions.
Program Overview: IBM’s Sustainability Accelerator program aims to support organizations working toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11, which focuses on making cities safer, more resilient, and sustainable.
- The program provides recipients with access to IBM’s AI technology, hybrid cloud infrastructure, and technical expertise
- Five organizations were selected from over 100 applications based on their community impact and proposed AI applications
- The support will be delivered over a two-year period to help scale their respective missions
Selected Organizations and Their Missions: Each recipient organization focuses on distinct urban challenges that can be addressed through advanced technology and data analytics.
- C40 Cities will develop AI-powered solutions to analyze and address extreme heat risks and urban heat island effects
- Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy will create a city data analytics platform to optimize resource allocation in Indian cities
- Kota Kita plans to implement AI models to help Indonesian communities better prepare for climate-related stresses
- Mass General Brigham will develop an AI tool to predict and respond to extreme heat events affecting vulnerable patients
- The U.N. World Food Programme will enhance its GeoTar mapping tool with AI capabilities to improve food security response
Technology Implementation: The integration of IBM’s AI and cloud computing resources will enable these organizations to significantly expand their current capabilities.
- Organizations will receive access to IBM’s hybrid cloud infrastructure to process and analyze large datasets
- AI models will be developed to predict and respond to various urban challenges
- Data analytics platforms will help consolidate and interpret city-level information for better decision-making
Looking Beyond Current Applications: The selection of these diverse organizations signals a growing trend of applying enterprise-level AI technology to address complex urban sustainability challenges, though success will ultimately depend on the effective implementation and adoption of these tools by local communities and decision-makers.
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