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Vendor IBM has extended a hand to upgrade Taronga Conservation Society Australia’s (TCSA) conservation efforts with cloud, data and analytics technology through volunteer work.
Through the project, IBM’s pro bono consulting program Service Corps will create a prototype for the NSW government agency to measure the impact of changing climates on the critical habitats of threatened species.
The project is set to utilise real-time data, as well as historical weather data and satellite imagery from The Weather Company, and be built and designed by volunteers in Big Blue’s consulting program, which will see a team of employees from Australia, India and the US working together virtually.
“The team will draw on IBM software and IBM Cloud solutions to create a concept that will improve conservation research based on past weather patterns and future predictions,” said Katrina Troughton, IBM’s managing director for A/NZ.
TCSA CEO Cameron Kerr added that he was thankful for the support of IBM Service Corps “who will ensure our scientists have the best data and the best tools available to them to continue their essential work”.
“We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, and, in Australia alone, more than 1700 species and ecological communities are known to be threatened or at risk of extinction,” he said.
“The answers to the pressures faced by our living planet will not be found in a business as usual approach, but in innovation and collaboration as embodied by this program and these leaders in their field.”
According to Big Blue, the work by IBM Service Corps has seen over 4,750 IBM employees complete more than 1,400 projects across 44 countries since its launch in 2008.
