Cooling Wins Games! GIGABYTE RTX™ 4080 Series Graphics Cards Hit the Market. Image provided
Media Release by GIGABYTE
The world’s leading computer brand, GIGABYTE, today officially announced the GeForce RTX™ 4080 series graphics cards will hit the market on November 16th. Built on NVIDIA’s latest Ada Lovelacearchitecture, these new-gen graphics cards come with ultra-powerful performance and advanced cooling solutions that enthusiast gamers and creators seek. GIGABYTE offers a total of seven models to meet various demands, including the liquid-cooled AORUS XTREME WATERFORCE and the air-cooled AORUS MASTER, GAMING OC, AERO OC, and EAGLE OC.
Primed for extremely cool and quiet operations, the AORUS XTREME WATERFORCE graphics cards come in two variants – the open-loop model with a pre-installed water block and the closed-loop model featuring an all-in-one cooler. Both excel in delivering the ultimate gaming performance while keeping the temperature well in check with their optimized water channel and thermal designs, making them ideal for hardcore gamers or PC DIY enthusiasts looking to take their custom builds to the next level.
The air-cooled AORUS GeForce RTX™ 4080 MASTER is also built with cooling as the top priority. The upgraded WINDFORCE Bionic shark fans, combined with the alternate spinning technology, offer a massive leap in cooling potential with more pressure and less turbulence than previous generation models. Paired with the solid thermal design, the AORUS MASTER provides the best cooling efficiency even under demanding loads.
Aesthetics is another highlight of the GIGABYTE graphics cards. The overall sleek design is complemented by the exclusive RGB Halo triple ring lighting around the fans, giving the AORUS MASTER and GIGABYTE GAMING OC a truly unique look. The LCD Edge View on the side of the AORUS MASTER gives users another option to personalize their cards with texts, images, or gifs. One can also monitor critical health stats, like power consumption, temperatures, RPMs, etc. with the LCD Edge View as well. The graphics cards also include a dedicated anti-sag bracket, providing strong support and protection without interfering the overall visual appearance.
An international team of scientists led by a University of Sydney astrophysicist has discovered evidence the Andromeda galaxy is a cannibal growing through colossal intermittent feasts.
The research, which is available on the pre-print server arXiv and will be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, builds, in part, on the unexpected findings of two honours students.
“A few years ago, we discovered that in the far outskirts of Andromeda, there was a sign in the objects orbiting it that the galaxy hadn’t been grazing, but it had eaten large quantities in two distinct epochs,” said lead author Professor Geraint Lewis from the University of Sydney. “What this new result does is provide a clearer picture of how our local universe has come together – it is telling us that at least in one of the large galaxies, that there has been this sporadic feeding of small galaxies.”
The research findings are based on the discovery of a structure of stars, known as globular clusters, in Andromeda that originated outside the galaxy. Professor Lewis named this the Dulais Structure, drawn from the Welsh for black stream.
The Dulais Structure represents the leftovers of a colossal feeding event in the ‘recent’ past, a dark stream lit up by star clusters orbiting unlike any others in Andromeda. It provides evidence that galaxies grow by ‘eating’ smaller systems, and the findings are at odds with a more sedate picture of galactic growth.
“That then leads to the next question of, well, what was actually consumed? Because it doesn’t look like it was just one thing, it looks like it’s been a collection of things which are all being slowly torn apart,” said Professor Lewis. “We’ve come to realise over the last few decades that galaxies grow by eating smaller systems – so little galaxies fall in, they get eaten – it’s galactic cannibalism.”
Andromeda has the signatures of two major feeding events. Rough timescales indicate the ‘recent’ feast took place sometime in the last 5 billion years, while the older feed was closer to 8-10 billion years ago. The universe itself is 13.8 billion years old, meaning the two separate events may have taken place while matter in the universe was in closer proximity and more densely concentrated.
“We know that the universe was featureless at its birth in the Big Bang, and today it’s full of galaxies. Were those galaxies born fully formed, or have they grown?” Professor Lewis said.
Astrophysicists like Professor Lewis are studying Andromeda to better understand how our own Milky Way has evolved. The vantage point from Earth makes viewing our galaxy difficult because we’re sitting inside it, obscuring observations, but the distance from Andromeda allows scientists the advantage of a “panoramic view”.
It is unclear how the Milky Way itself has fed, but a picture is emerging in Andromeda with a clear signature – large feasts and growth spurts. Given the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy of similar size, the research may be painting a picture of what our galaxy has done to reach its enormous size.
Next steps
“What we want to know is has the Milky Way done the same, or is it different? Both of those have interesting consequences for the overall picture of how galaxies form,” Professor Lewis said. “We want to, at some level, come up with a more accurate clock to tell us when these events occurred because that’s one thing we need to include in our models of how galaxies evolve.”
He and colleagues analysed data covering the speeds and chemistry of the globular clusters forming the Dulais Structure, providing a two-dimensional view. The next step is to understand distances, which will allow researchers to construct the history in three dimensions.
“That will then allow us to work out orbits, where things are going, and then we can start to run the clock backwards and see if we can get this coherent picture of when things fell in,” he said.
“We couldn’t name it as an object like a galaxy, because we actually do not know if the signature we see is from one big object disrupting or seven smaller objects disrupting. That’s why we sort of refer to it as a structure rather than it being a particular galaxy.”
The initial results on the Dulais Structure came about from two honours students exploring the data: Tim Adams from the University of Sydney and Yuan Li from the University of Auckland, who, to Professor Lewis’ surprise, stumbled upon evidence of leftovers in the galaxy’s spiral.
“We got a hint that something was going on from their honours work,” he said. “You almost know what’s going to come out at the end of it, but when they come to you and say, ‘I keep getting this signal, and it’s a bit weird,’ – that’s when it gets very exciting.
“It’s opened a new door in terms of our understanding. But exactly what it’s telling us I think we still have to work that one out.”
Professor Lewis works at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy within the University of Sydney’s School of Physics. He has published three cosmology-related books, the most recent of which is “Where did the universe come from? And other cosmic questions”.
Accenture has completed a tender offer to purchase ALBERT Inc., a Japanese data science company.
In a statement, Accenture said it would get a huge staff of data scientists due to the acquisition, bolstering its data and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for clients.
The tender offer began on 29 September and concluded on 14 November. The quantity of ALBERT common shares and stock purchase rights presented to Accenture exceeds the two-thirds threshold required to become a subsidiary of Accenture. ALBERT will become a subsidiary of Accenture upon completion. Accenture anticipates purchasing all outstanding shares and stock acquisition rights in the coming months.
ALBERT mainly serves major Japanese organisations with AI and extensive data analytics services, AI-based algorithm creation, AI implementation advice, and data science training support. In 2015, the company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after being created in 2005. Its 250-person data science team will join Accenture’s Applied Intelligence group, which provides AI and data-driven transformation solutions and services.
ALBERT will boost Accenture’s global capabilities to assist clients in managing the comprehensive reinvention of their enterprises, which most successful firms will experience over the coming decade. Technology, data, and AI will revolutionise every aspect of their business, enabling new ways of working and communicating with customers and new business models and growth potential.
Accenture’s acquisition is the latest step in the company’s efforts to strengthen its services in Japan, which leverage data to digitally mimic the entire organisation and to help Japanese companies grow and become more competitive through deep data analytics and AI capabilities. Accenture recently launched multiple data-driven management solutions in Japan, for example, to forecast various business scenarios and provide steps to enhance projections, as well as to assist clients’ ESG (environment, society, and corporate governance) practises.
“Companies today need a 360-degree view on their business to make better and faster decisions. They must look beyond the financials and include, for example, sustainability initiatives, customer experiences, and people development and retraining. Gaining this holistic perspective and being able to simulate every aspect of the business requires deep data science expertise and AI capabilities. Accenture and ALBERT’s team will bring these to clients to help them succeed in their total enterprise reinvention,” Atsushi Egawa, who leads Accenture’s business in Japan, said.
Takeshi Matsumoto, President, and CEO of ALBERT stated, “ALBERT’s philosophy is to connect the world with data science and co-create new value for a better future. As leading companies across industries are investing heavily in AI, we’re seeing growing demand for the technologies and skills that are the core of our business. By joining Accenture, which excels at addressing its clients’ most complex opportunities and issues, our team can drive even more value for clients and accelerate the implementation of AI in society.”
ALBERT will join Accenture’s previous acquisitions to boost its data and AI capabilities for clients worldwide. Analytics8 in Australia, Sentelis in France, Bridgei2i and Byte Prophecy in India, Pragsis Bidoop in Spain, Mudano in the UK, and Clarity Insights, End-to-End Analytics, and Core Compete in the United States are among them.
Nexa3D, the maker of ultrafast industrial polymer 3D printers, today announced that it will make its patented Lubricant Sublayer Photo-curing® (LSPc®) 3D printing technology available through Xometry’s global digital marketplace, which connects enterprise buyers with manufacturing suppliers.
“We are very excited to make Nexa3D’s ultrafast technology available to our customers in the coming months,” said Randy Altschuler, Xometry’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our customers have the need for additively manufactured, engineering-grade components that have shorter lead times, but yet can be sourced economically, and we look forward to meeting those customer needs.”
The 3D printing service will be offered through Xometry’s global network of vetted suppliers utilizing both the industrial NXE-series and XiP desktop 3D printers. Both printers use Nexa3D’s patented LSPc technology, which is a proprietary masked stereolithography (mSLA) process that is orders of magnitude faster than traditional stereolithography and digital light processes. The LSPc process uses an LED array as its light source, along with an LCD photomask, which shapes the layer image. The company’s proprietary Everlast Membrane minimizes peel forces resulting in faster layer speed powered by higher light intensity, which ultimately translates into better print quality and up to 20x productivity gains.
“We are thrilled to partner with Xometry to make our technology even more accessible to the global engineering community,” said Avi Reichental, Nexa3D Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer. “With over 400 Nexa3D printers currently in use worldwide, it’s great to know that our technology is going to reach an even wider audience through Xometry’s on-demand manufacturing network.”
Nexa3D will be exhibiting its entire technology portfolio, ranging from resin-based desktop and industrial printers to thermoplastic additive manufacturing solutions for serial production at this year’s Formnext at Hall 11.1 | Booth E31.
Flatiron Institute Supercomputer. Image credit: Lenovo
The Flatiron Institute’s new supercomputer in New York City leads the newest Green500 List of the world’s most power-efficient supercomputers.
The latest list, which ranks supercomputers based on the number of floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) per watt of power, places the new supercomputer at 65.091 billion FLOPS per watt. This beats the previous record of 62.684 billion FLOPS per watt. The new Flatiron Institute supercomputer is the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputer, according to Green500.org, with 2.038 million billion FLOPS.
“This supercomputer opens up opportunities for doing new kinds of science. This is a workhorse machine, and we’re going to let our researchers try new things and drive discoveries,” Flatiron Institute’s Scientific Computing Core co-director Ian Fisk said.
The Flatiron Institute’s researchers will use the new supercomputer’s capabilities to solve complex computational astrophysics, biology, mathematics, neuroscience, and quantum physics challenges. The system, which uses NVIDIA‘s accelerated processing architecture, is well suited for machine learning applications such as multi-body simulations of the universe’s evolution, predicting how proteins fold and function, and discovering connections in genomic studies. Accelerated computing is also very good at linear algebra calculations, replicating how electrons behave at the quantum scale. This is because GPUs can perform far more calculations in parallel than traditional CPUs.
The system itself was constructed by Lenovo and is housed in a data centre in New Jersey. It exploits the efficiency characteristics of the company’s ThinkSystem SR670 V2, a server meant to be instal simply into standard data centres and be accessible to more researchers. Its efficient architecture keeps everything cool even in a high-heat, multi-GPU situation. The new Lenovo supercomputer incorporates 80 new NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs, linked via NVIDIA’s Quantum 200Gb/s InfiniBand network and housed in ordinary data centre racks.
“As a world leader in supercomputing, Lenovo is committed to making the same Exascale-ready technologies available for users of all sizes and across all industries. Our collaboration with Flatiron and NVIDIA demonstrates a pivotal milestone in enabling supercomputing technology at nearly any scale and supporting smarter technology for all,” Kirk Skaugen, Executive Vice President, Lenovo Group and President of Infrastructure Solutions Group said.
Researchers can start with a single server, progress to a partial rack, and eventually reach exascale levels, all while helping to improve scientific outputs and achieve new discoveries in sustainable computing.
The transistors in NVIDIA chipsets are only 5 nanometers wide, allowing for more computational muscle to be crammed onto the same size device. This decreased transistor size and numerous other modifications contributed to the new supercomputer’s lower energy consumption and higher performance efficiency.
There are numerous advantages to reducing a supercomputer’s power consumption without compromising performance. Electricity contributes significantly to the operational expenses and environmental impact of a machine. Every watt consumed generates heat, which must be evacuated from the system, necessitating even more power. Furthermore, more energy-efficient equipment can be installed in existing data centres without requiring costly electrical improvements.
“This computer will allow us to do more science with smarter technology that uses less electricity and contributes to a more sustainable future,” he says. “That’s what’s important to us,” Fisk said.
The new Flatiron Institute supercomputer has surpassed the Frontier Test & Development System (TDS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee regarding power efficiency. Frontier TDS established a very high threshold on the June 2022 list, with 62.684 billion FLOPS per watt, while the main Frontier system — which broke the exaFLOP (1 billion FLOPS) barrier and remains the world’s fastest supercomputer — has 52.227 billion FLOPS per watt. As a result, unseating Frontier would be a difficult task, according to Fisk.
While both are record-breaking machines, the new Flatiron Institute supercomputer is a far different beast than Frontier, which was painstakingly conceived and built to achieve 1 exaFLOP. On the other hand, the new Flatiron Institute system uses widely available platforms, NVIDIA accelerated processing, and InfiniBand networking, making it “extremely high performance and very efficient without being particularly unusual,” according to Fisk. “It simply took a few of employees to get the system up and running.” This level of efficiency is now available to a far broader range of organisations, rather than simply the largest supercomputing centres.”
Three years into the COVID pandemic, the world economy, while facing mounting uncertainties and challenges, has undergone profound changes, with the digital evolution accelerated and the digital economy emerging as a new engine for economic recovery and growth.
The digital economy refers to a broad range of economic activities that include using digitized information and knowledge as the key factor of production, modern information networks as an important activity space, and the effective use of information and communication technology (ICT) as an important driver of productivity growth and economic structural optimization, according to the G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative agreed at 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit.
In 2021, the added value of the digital economy of 47 major countries around the world reached $38.1 trillion, up 15.6 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 45 percent of their combined GDP, according to a white paper released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) in July 2022.
Among them, the G20 members, which represent more than 85 percent of the global GDP, 75 percent of the international trade and 60 percent of the world’s population, lead the world in the development of digital economy.
The U.S., with a digital economy worth $15.3 trillion, ranked first in the world. China came second with its digital economy reaching $7.1 trillion. The European Union took the third place with a value of $6.3 trillion.
In terms of the digital economy’s share in GDP, Germany, Britain and the U.S. ranked among the top three, all exceeding 65 percent.
G20 consensus on digital economy
At the 2016 G20 Summit held in Hangzhou, China, as the rotating presidency, included digital economy as an important topic in the summit for the first time. The country also led the formulation and release of the G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative, which was the first digital economy policy document endorsed by the G20 leaders.
The document proposed seven guiding principles for the development of digital economy, namely innovation, partnership, synergy, flexibility, inclusion, open and enabling business environment, flow of information for economic growth, trust and security.
It also identified six key areas for cooperation in digital economy, including expanding broadband access and improving quality; promoting investment in the ICT sector; supporting entrepreneurship and promoting digital transformation; encouraging e-commerce cooperation; enhancing digital inclusion and promoting development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
China’s booming digital economy
China’s digital economy reached $7.1 trillion in 2021, accounting for 39.8 percent of the country’s GDP, according to a white paper released by the CAICT.
From 2012 to 2021, the average growth rate of China’s digital economy was 15.9 percent, and the digital economy’s share in its GDP increased from 21.6 percent to 39.8 percent, the white paper showed.
The digital economy’s role as a stabilizer and an accelerator of China’s overall economy has become more prominent, said the white paper.
As of June 2022, China had 1.05 billion internet users, forming the world’s largest and most dynamic digital society.
The country has also built the world’s largest 5G networks, with 1.97 million 5G base stations by the end of July.
While China’s digital economy is booming and becoming an increasingly important growth engine for its economic development, the country is also offering more opportunities for international companies to grow in the Chinese market and witnessing active cooperation with G20 members in the field.
In June, German company Siemens set up its first Smart Infrastructure Digitalization Enablement Center in China, exploring collaboration with domestic firms in smart infrastructure.
U.S. tech giant IBM, with its cloud-based services, has been actively cooperating with Chinese companies in their digital transformation.
China is also working with Brazil in protecting the Amazon rainforest ecosystem with digital technologies.
The MiamiWeb3 Summit announces its detailed agenda and more high-profile speakers, including leading figureheads such as Tim Draper, Founding Partner at Draper Associates, Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Chuck Mounts, Chief DeFi Officer at S&P Global Ratings and John D’Agostino, Senior Advisor at Coinbase Institutional.
MiamiWeb3 is a summit that focuses on the institutional and policy aspects of Web3, blockchain and crypto ecosystems. The organizers, which include the City of Miami, Atlas, a pioneering Web3 infrastructure provider, and its parent company CTH Group, are organizing an unprecedented gathering of thought leaders and impactful voices at the crypto-focused summit for an intense exploration of Web3 trends across the economy, business, and society.
The agenda spans across three jam-packed days during speakers will “go beyond crypto to embrace Web3”.
On the evening of November 28th, VIP guests are invited to join the Welcome Opening Night Reception, meet the speakers and mingle with other guests as Raymond Yuan, Founder of CTH Group and Atlas, welcomes participants to MiamiWeb3. From there, the agenda takes off, with two full days of visionary keynote speeches, challenging panel discussions and unveiling fireside chats where guests are taken on journey through four key themes that accompany the event.
Macro Takes (Nov 29th, morning)
Speakers from government, traditional finance and Web3 discuss their views on the state of the industry and where they see opportunity for future growth, covering the regulatory, financial and technological aspects, participants get a 360-degree birdseye view on everything that matters.
This section features diverse perspectives from speakers such as Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami, Cynthia Lummis, U.S. Senator of Wymoing, Derek Devens, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Neuberger Berman and many more.
DeFi: Beyond Crypto (Nov 29th, afternoon)
There’s is much more to Web3 than crypto: there is an entire world of new financial primitives and applications waiting to be explored through DeFi. While DeFi is accessible to individuals, institutions often struggle with custody, compliance, taxation and unlocking the yields made possible through this technology.
Experts across such as Anthona Bassili, Head of Asset Allocators at Coinbase Institutional, Joel Edgerton, Head of Americas Enterprise at Ledger and Alex McDougall, CEO of Stablecorp give insights across the institutional DeFi landscape, and how to access this market.
Web2 to Web3 (Nov 30th, morning)
The transition from Web2 to Web3 is well-underway. From unlocking Bitcoin to Web3 ecosystem investment funds, participants are led through emerging Web3 technologies and the industries that are being built around them.
Industry leaders including Tim Draper, Founding Partner of Draper Associates,Trevor Owens, Managing Partner at Stacks Ventures and Brittany Laughlin, Executive Director of Stacks Open Internet Foundation break down what matters!
Embracing Web3 (Nov 30th, afternoon)
Finally, we look towards the future to “go beyond crypto and embrace Web3”. Speakers look towards the future of finance and break down various Web3 innovations including DAOs, NFTs and GameFi.
Exciting speakers and panelists including Sandy Carter, SVP & Channel Chief at Unstoppable Domains, David S. Bennahum, CEO of Ready Games and many more show the opportunities and innovations available in this space!
With MiamiWeb3, Atlas and CTH Group are creating a platform where trends and pressing topics concerning Web3 can be discussed, with globally relevant participation to drive meaningful outcomes: from building out the ecosystem across all verticals to unleashing Web3’s full potential with new business models to contributing to a better foundation for fair, equitable, and clean growth for the world.
Today Timex®, the #1 selling watch brand*, launches a unique and interactive experience that will have players ready to “Race Against TimeX” in Fortnite®, one of the most popular video games in the world. The challenge has players competing in multiple races against time – in a watch-infused virtual world where watches symbolize empowerment by providing players with additional speed and powers that give them a competitive edge.
“Timex has been a disruptor for nearly 170 years, we have history in the unexpected,” says Shari Fabiani, Sr. Vice President, Brand & Creative at Timex Group. “As the official timekeeper of the metaverse, we’re playing with the concept of time and merging analog technology with a digital world within one of the world’s most popular multiplayer online games, Fortnite. Timex has ventured into the metaverse before and now we are going full throttle into gaming, with additional virtual, immersive experiences, and entry into web3 coming soon.”
The collaboration will be supported with a fully integrated campaign, bridging the virtual world with real life experiences, such as in-game giveaways, partnerships including gamer influencers Parker Locke, Sushi Bae, SypherPK, YouTube Star Ali-A and Gen Z style icon and Fortnite enthusiast Landon Barker.
“For me, time spent playing Fortnite is time well spent because it is one of the ways I can be with my friends without all of the superficial stuff that can get in the way of connection,” said Landon Barker. “I am excited to partner with Timex, I love their watches and Fortnite so for me this was a perfect match.”
Race Against TimeX includes 6 mini-games, each pitting players against time, with challenges including water rising, walls closing, floors breaking, players dodging sequencer waves and finding their way across a precarious path in the dark. Players can purchase power-ups, with fantastical watches transferring special powers to the players’ wrists, giving them extra speed and other abilities as they try to complete all 6 mini-games in the fastest times.
Timex first entered the metaverse with innovative partnerships that included an official pre-show countdown partnership with Wave’s live, virtual, and interactive Justin Bieber concert and AmazeVR’s Megan Thee Stallion VR Concert Tour, “Enter The Hottieverse,” with virtual Timex watches added to the wrists of each user’s avatar using special VR hand tracking capabilities. Now in “Race Against TimeX,” Timex offers their most interactive, virtual experience to date, with more initiatives planned, further positioning Timex at the forefront of the metaverse.
Timex teamed up with best-in-class partners to bring “Race Against TimeX” to fruition, including MetabrandsTM, a metaverse agency for brands, SuperAwesome, an Epic Games company, that assisted with digital engagement among GenZ gamers, and Beyond Creative, a leading developer of Fortnite Creative games.
To play “Race Against TimeX,” go to Fortnite, choose “Creative” mode, select “Play” and input the “Island Code.” Fortnite can be played for free on PC, PlayStation (4 and 5), Xbox One (S, X, and Series X or S), Nintendo Switch, and Android mobile devices.
Frontline, TeamViewer’s enterprise Augmented Reality(AR) platform, is now accessible through the Google Cloud Marketplace, the company announced.
In a statement, TeamViewer said customers that have already committed to Google Cloud Marketplace gain from Frontline’s streamlined procurement and aggregate invoicing through a single channel.
The two businesses are extending their activities to additional industries, beginning with the manufacturing sector, building on the initial success of the marketing and sales activities customised to the retail sector around picking and training use cases utilising Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 in warehouses, distribution centres, and in-store.
According to TeamViewer, organisations will be able to save operational costs and downtime, boost worker productivity and process efficiency, and boost customer and employee happiness thanks to TeamViewer and Google Cloud.
Google Cloud Managing Director Cloud Marketplace Dai Vu said organisations are concentrating on utilising technology to improve the workflows and operations of frontline employees.
“With TeamViewer Frontline’s enterprise AR platform available on Google Cloud Marketplace, customers can equip their frontline workers with guided step-by-step instructions on wearables and help bring digitalization to the shopfloor at cloud scale,” Vu stated.
TeamViewer EVP Business Development Alfredo Patron stated that with the extension of TeamViewer’s partnership with Google Cloud, TeamViewer is reaffirming its commitment to working with Google Cloud to develop go-to-market strategies.
Patron added that this would allow TeamViewer to expand its reach into important growth markets for TeamViewer’s AR solutions on Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2.
“The facilitated procurement of TeamViewer Frontline via Google Cloud Marketplace will further accelerate the adoption of these technologies as more companies value AR as a critical component to creating a truly digitalized workforce,” Patron said.
Collection of seagrass cores by Indonesian researchers from Nusa Cendana University for mapping carbon stocks. Image credit: CSIRO
Media Release by CSIRO
Today, a new ‘blue carbon’ collaboration between CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and Google Australia was announced.
The collaboration will help scientists to map and understand seagrass ecosystems and their ability to absorb and sequester carbon, supporting climate resilience, Indo-Pacific and Australian coastlines, and the people and livelihoods that rely on them.
Traditional methods for carbon assessment of coastal and marine ecosystems rely on remote geospatial and aerial sensing platforms. These methods can be affected by cloud cover, angle of the sun and weather – and getting results from this imagery relies on costly and time-consuming manual image analysis.
As part of this new collaboration, researchers will aim to collect and analyse imagery of seagrass and marine fauna from multiple sources, using machine learning – so they can map and model data and insights in a more scalable and cost-effective way.
Scientists, researchers and engineers from Fiji, Indonesia, CSIRO, Google and Tidal (an ocean health project within X.company) will be collaborating on research in the Indo-Pacific and along Australia’s coastline.
The partnership is part of Google’s Digital Future Initiative – a $1B investment in Australian infrastructure, research and partnerships. It also builds on existing collaborations with CSIRO, which includes work in the Great Barrier Reef to help detect and manage crown-of-thorns starfish.
CSIRO Chief Executive Larry Marshall said the initiative brings together the best of CSIRO and Google with DFAT to support climate-smart decisions that strengthen climate resilience and economic growth.
“The combination of Google’s world-leading Artificial Intelligence and platform technology, CSIRO’s deep climate, digital and AI expertise, DFAT’s experience delivering high-quality development programs, and skills of our in-country partners, will help create tailored and cutting-edge solutions for Australia and the Indo-Pacific,” said Dr Marshall.
“Harnessing the capabilities of our partners and building on our past success in the application of AI and digital technologies will provide unique insights for local communities and national governments who are tackling big climate challenges.
“CSIRO has been a key science and technology provider in the Indo-Pacific region and we continue to assist countries like Indonesia and Fiji with accessible, scalable and appropriate technologies that can provide a step-change in their ability to meet climate, prosperity and livelihood challenges, and meet biodiversity goals.”
Mel Silva, Managing Director, Google Australia and New Zealand said that the partnership has been made possible by the Digital Future Initiative.
“We are thrilled to partner with CSIRO and DFAT to explore new applications of AI for carbon sequestration. Our shared goal is to support long-term climate resilience and improve access to technology for developing nations in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Silva.
“The Digital Future Initiative is an investment in the extraordinary talent and creativity of Australians and will allow us to continue working with CSIRO to harness machine learning tools to protect marine fauna and endangered species, and the future of our nation’s coastline.”
This partnership will be delivered through Australia’s Science and Technology for Climate Partnership (SciTech4Climate) and Google’s Digital Future Initiative. It is a $2.7 million investment along with in-kind contributions from the partners.
