Applications are open for the National Geographic AI For Earth Innovation
National Geographic calls for an application for AI For Earth Innovation 2021. Basically, the National Geographic Society and Microsoft’s AI for Earth program are partnering to support innovative projects that create and implement artificial intelligence tools to improve the way we monitor, model, we understand and ultimately manage the nature of the Earth. resources for a more sustainable future.
AI For Earth Innovation grants support projects that use cloud computing to create and implement open source models and algorithms that make key analytical processes more efficient in the field. This association focuses on supporting projects that will build tools such as applications, application programming interfaces (APIs) or packages to share. On top of that, Microsoft will help selected applicants make their models and tools available to other researchers and environmental innovators.
Here are more details about the program
Eligibility Criteria :
Here are some of the topics you can write on
Extreme weather events, wildlife trafficking, rising sea levels, increasing demands for agricultural and urban development, higher global temperatures, and increased acidity of the oceans are among the threats to the natural systems and the biodiversity on which we depend. Basically, the proposed work should address one or more of the topics below and create generalizable and scalable tools that can be used by other environmental researchers and conservationists.
Biodiversity: Biodiversity around the world is declining rapidly. AI can help us understand and address challenges like these:
Human-wildlife conflict
Introduction and spread of invasive species
Loss of habitat, including agricultural and urban encroachment
Discovery, identification and distribution of species
Poaching and wildlife trafficking
Climate change: countries and communities around the world are engaged in climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience efforts. AI can help in areas like these:
Understand and quantify carbon sequestration
Monitoring and understanding of afforestation / reforestation efforts
Identification of fire risks and ways to mitigate damage.
Extreme weather and climate modeling
Sustainable land use change
Resistance to shocks caused by extreme events (e.g. droughts, floods, other natural disasters)
Benefits :
Applicants can apply for $ 5,000 to $ 100,000. In addition, budgets for successful proposals will include reasonable and well-justified costs that are directly required to complete the project. In addition to financial support, selected applicants will receive free access to AI for Earth APIs, applications, tools and tutorials, and assistance with their computational work on Microsoft Azure.
Here is the selection criteria for the startup
Selection Committee will evaluate and prioritize Projects on AI For Earth Innovation on the following basis
- Justification and importance of the proposed focus area.
- Justification of the need for cloud computing.
- Likelihood of the model or tool to scale and create lasting impact.
