Software King of the World, Microsoft, has been showing off its latest sustainability initiative.
Dubbed Planetary Computer, the project is an expansion on the vendor’s current AI For Earth initiative, which sees environmental organisations around the world use artificial intelligence to create solutions to environmental challenges.
Microsoft president Brad Smith gave specific examples of how the platform will work in a blog post, stating that it will provide searchable satellite imagery, machine learning tools and user-contributed data about forest boundaries, as well as leveraging predictive models to estimate global carbon stocks and inform decisions about land use that impacts the ability to address climate change.
The ‘Planetary Computer’ will use machine learning to aggregate environmental data from around the world, and allow users access to trillions of data points, with information searched by geographic location rather than keyword.
The tech giant is expanding its partnership with Esri, a geographical information systems software specialist, for the project. The two parties had already been working together as part of the AI for Earth scheme.
Microsoft also committed to “use its voice” on ecosystem policies and established its “land footprint goal”, to protect more land than it uses by 2025, through acquisition, national park creation, conservation easement and community-led conservation.
