Initiatives also include Global Renewables Watch, Ukraine damage
assessment
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and
insights about Earth, and Microsoft Corp. announced an expanded
partnership to apply artificial intelligence (AI) technology and
satellite data to support African climate adaptation projects. This
technology collaboration is in support of Microsoft’s
recently-announced first global expansion of its AI for Good Labs
into Nairobi, Kenya and Cairo, Egypt and the establishment of a
corresponding AI Innovation Council with local partners and
nonprofits. Through this program, Africa-based data scientists will
have access to Planet satellite imagery from across the African
continent to inform projects, as nominated by the AI Innovation
Council, that have a specific focus on early warning systems and
climate adaptation – the process of adjusting to current or
expected effects of climate change.
This initiative marks Planet’s third collaboration with
Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab this year. Previous projects include
the Global Renewables Watch (GRW) and the kickstart to the
partnership – a robust building damage assessment at the outset of
the Russo-Ukrainian War.
“Two things that our Planet and Microsoft teams share in common
is a very strong bias to action and to do the most good at the best
scale,” said Andrew Zolli, Chief Impact Officer of Planet. “Once we
were able to see how impactful combining AI and satellite data
could be, not just technically, but how impactful it can be when in
the right hands, we immediately began to think about the complex
problems we could go after - humanitarian aid, climate change, food
and energy insecurity, etc.”
Global Renewables Watch
The pair of companies, in conjunction with The Nature
Conservancy, today announced on Energy Day at the 2022 United
Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), that interested users
can now sign up for private previews of the Global Renewables Watch
(GRW), a first-of-its-kind living atlas intended to map and measure
all utility-scale solar and wind installations on Earth using
artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite imagery, allowing users
to evaluate clean energy transition progress and track trends over
time.
The GRW team also unveiled the complete mapping of solar and
wind installations of Kenya, Brazil and Egypt, joining the
renewable energy sites mapped in Germany and India that were
announced during GRW’s launch in September 2022. Private preview
signup is available at: https://www.globalrenewableswatch.org/
Ukraine Building Damage Assessment
The first collaboration that brought Microsoft and Planet
together earlier this year was for the Office of the Secretary
General of the United Nations, working alongside the UN Operations
and Crisis Center (UNOCC) to monitor schools, hospitals and water,
sanitation, hygiene and healthcare waste management infrastructure
(WASH) across Ukraine to understand who and what had been
affected.
The UNOCC supports UN senior leadership in decision-making,
situational awareness, risk and crisis management. In response to
the invasion of Ukraine and in preparation for future similar
situations, the goal was to develop a robust change detection
system, harnessing AI and satellite-based technologies, that would
bypass inherent traditional damage assessment challenges and
support the scale and speed needed for ground teams to respond
effectively.
The team surveyed eight Ukrainian oblasts, coupling the UNOCC’s
ground reports with Microsoft’s AI and machine learning models on
top of Planet’s satellite data, in order to identify and determine
if infrastructure was affected or destroyed, and approximate the
date on which the damage occurred. From these mapping assessments,
the team was then able to determine how many people were affected,
by comparing confirmation of the damaged schools or hospitals with
the size of the student body or the number of registered
patients.
“Prior, for these locations where they were unable to be onsite,
the UNOCC did not have documented or reliable evidence of building
damage. Through this project, the UN team now has a full account
not only of affected infrastructure, but also the displaced and
vulnerable populations those buildings served,” said Juan Lavista
Ferres, Microsoft VP and Chief Data Scientist. “This is proof of
the visible and actionable change that AI and satellite data can
deliver to solve complex problems, whether that’s in humanitarian
action, sustainability or health.”
About Planet
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL) is a leading provider of global,
daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions. Planet is driven
by a mission to image the world every day, and make change visible,
accessible and actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA
scientists, Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest Earth
observation fleet of imaging satellites, capturing over 30 TB of
data per day. Planet provides mission-critical data, advanced
insights, and software solutions to over 800 customers, comprising
the world’s leading agriculture, forestry, intelligence, education
and finance companies and government agencies, enabling users to
simply and effectively derive unique value from satellite imagery.
Planet is a public benefit corporation trading on the New York
Stock Exchange as PL. To learn more visit www.planet.com and follow
us on Twitter.
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only as of the date such statements are made. Planet undertakes no
obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future
events or circumstances.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221115005608/en/
Planet Press Megan Zaroda comms@planet.com
Planet Investor Relations Chris Genualdi ir@planet.com
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