IRCAI, Zindi, and AWS Launch AI for Equity Challenge: Climate Action, Gender, & Health to Develop New Tech Solutions Helping to Address U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

Participants to leverage advanced computing in the cloud, including generative AI, to help to expedite solutions in the fight against climate change

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), an organization under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), data science platform Zindi, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced the launch of the AI for Equity Challenge: Climate Action, Gender, & Health , a six-month global virtual contest to support researchers, non-profits, and startups applying advanced cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) to create new solutions that address gender and healthy equity issues exacerbated by the climate crisis.

The AI for Equity Challenge, hosted on the Zindi platform, aligns with the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative's (ASDI) mission to accelerate sustainability research, innovation, and collaboration by minimizing the cost and time required to acquire and analyze large sustainability datasets. ASDI works with sustainability-focused organizations and government agencies to host, and deploy key datasets on the AWS Cloud, including weather observations and forecasts, climate projection data, satellite imagery, hydrological data, air quality data, and ocean forecast data.

The challenge, which is a social coding competition, will focus on building new programing that supports more equitable futures at the intersection of gender, health and climate action, targeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 5 (Gender Equality), and 13 (Climate Action).

Participants will use data made available through ASDI, with a preference towards building on AWS AI services and infrastructure, to develop solutions. The challenge will be officially launched during the 2024 UN General Assembly and the UN's Summit of the Future in New York City, coinciding with Climate Week NYC.

Davor Orlic, COO at IRCAI “As artificial intelligence rapidly evolves, it is crucial that we harness its potential to address real-world challenges. At IRCAI, our mission is to guide the ethical development of AI technologies, ensuring they serve the greater good and are inclusive of marginalized AI communities. This challenge, in collaboration with AWS and Zindi, is an opportunity to discover and support the most innovative minds that are using AI and advanced computing to create impactful solutions for the climate crisis.”

A steering committee made up of members of NAIXUS, a network of AI and sustainable development research organizations, being convened through IRCAI will select proposals that demonstrate the most innovative use of advanced AI technologies, and the biggest promise for global impact on health and gender equity, and climate action.

The challenge's objectives will focus on driving awareness and use of existing ASDI datasets for new sustainability-focused research and innovation, connecting regional and global AI communities on sustainability issues, and amplifying real-world solutions that enable decision-making and action, not just talk. Throughout the competition, global climate researchers, nonprofits, and tech startups will leverage technical resources based on their needs, including high-performance computing (HPC), cloud compute, AI, generative AI, and machine learning (ML) services. Selected teams will receive expert guidance in AI sustainability and responsible AI, along with AWS credits to build their solutions.

Dave Levy, Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector, AWS, "Climate change is one of the greatest threats of our time, and we believe innovation is key to overcoming it. The AI for Equity Challenge invites innovators to bring forward their most visionary ideas, and we'll support them with AWS resources — whether that's computing power or advanced cloud technologies — to turn those ideas into reality. Our goal is to drive cloud innovation, support sustainability solutions, and make a meaningful impact on the climate crisis.”

The challenge will proceed in phases, with the first round of technical proposal submissions closing on November 4, 2024.

Applications for the AI for Equity Challenge: Climate Action, Gender, & Health are now open. For more details on challenge applications and eligibility, visit: https://zindi.africa/ai-equity-challenge.

About IRCAI

The International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) under the auspices of UNESCO, has the objective to bridge Research, advocacy, capacity-building and dissemination of information about AI in the interest of the public. Focused on equity, inclusion, and diversity, it offers insights, frameworks and tools to help the broader AI community address development concerns of people worldwide.

About UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the agency of the United Nations contributing to building peace through international cooperation in education, the sciences, and culture.

About Zindi

Zindi is the leading professional network for AI and data science, established with the aim of making data science and artificial intelligence (AI) skills accessible to all.

With a network of over 70,000 data scientists registered on the platform, from more than 180 countries around the world, Zindi helps data practitioners of all levels learn, grow and access professional opportunities while building real-world solutions for global organisations.

Media Contact

Paul Kennedy, Chief of Staff Zindi, [email protected] 

Mihajela Crnko, CCO IRCAI, [email protected]