The new $ 5.5 million collaboration launches in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda.

The Rockefeller Foundation will leverage machine learning technology and satellite data in a new $ 5.5 million collaboration with e-GUIDE and Atlas AI to boost economic development and build climate resilient infrastructure across sub- Saharan Africa. An innovative digital platform will make available valuable insight into agriculture, energy, and transportation sector development conditions, initially in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda. The information (“dynamic situational awareness of local conditions”) will enable policymakers to prioritise infrastructure development, promote economic opportunities, and mitigate community vulnerabilities in these sectors. (CISION PR NEWSWIRE)

“While data science has been used to improve individual development projects, we haven’t yet unlocked its potential to improve development at a systems level — which is critical, because efforts to drive change in energy, agriculture, and transportation must be integrated in order to make opportunity universal and sustainable,” said Zia Khan, Senior Vice President of Innovation at The Rockefeller Foundation.

e-GUIDE has successfully utilised AI to predict electricity consumption in Africa and measured its efficient use in Africa’s agricultural sector.

Atlas AI was established 2018 by The Rockefeller Foundation and a team of Stanford University professors. It uses data from a range of planetary sensors along with deep learning AI technologies to monitor changes to global economic and social well-being.

 Atlas AI builds hyper- local socio-economic data sets, predictive analytics models and software platforms that enhance policy and investment decisions.

“For more than a decade, the scientific community has been demonstrating the use of data from new sensors like satellites along with AI technologies to measure specific development indicators such as the performance of staple crops, the wealth accumulation of households, and the pace of electrification,” said Abe Tarapani, CEO of Atlas AI.

The collaboration on Africa between The Rockefeller Foundation, e-GUIDE, and Atlas AI is envisaged over a period of three years.

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