Microsoft has partnered with the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Ocean (C4IR Ocean) to develop technology-based systems to improve ocean health, as part of C4IR Ocean’s mission to promote a sustainable ocean.
C4IR Ocean was created by Norwegian company Aker and the World Economic Forum, and forms part of a global network of 10 Centers for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR). The network works to develop projects to that can apply digitalisation to solving important societal tasks.
“We are only as healthy as our ocean. It is critical to ensuring the planet doesn’t warm more than 1.5 degrees and ensuring economic security around the world. But climate change, pollution, and over exploitation of marine systems are putting our ocean in jeopardy,” said Microsoft Chief Environmental Officer, Lucas Joppa.
“Microsoft and C4IR Ocean share a vision for ocean health and how to best use data and technology to achieve it. We’re proud to be the first corporate partner, outside the Aker group, of this important initiative and look forward to working together to ensure our ocean is healthy.”
C4IR Ocean’s flagship project is the construction of an ocean data platform, which launched at the World Economic Forum’s summit on sustainable development on 23 September. The platform aims to make ocean data freely accessible to researchers, decision-makers and developers, with data from 220,000 marine research cruises since 1890 having been uploaded in the last six months.
“We want to be the largest, most inviting hub for computer-driven solutions for the ocean and contribute to reduced emissions, plastic waste and overfishing. To do this, we need the biggest players on the team early on,” said CEO of C4IR Ocean, Bjørn Tore Markussen.
“We are already working with several committed partners in industry, science, conservation and government. I am impressed with the work Microsoft is doing on sustainability, and it is motivating to team up with the best to ensure a healthy and productive ocean. We have found the right partner in Microsoft to realise the power of sharing data through cloud technology, data analysis and machine learning to build smart solutions for the ocean.”
