Due to rising coastal development, marine trash, and untreated wastewater, among many other pollution issues, the world’s seas and coastal waterways are degrading. 

Now Group 42, an artificial intelligence and cloud computing business, has teamed up with OceanX, G-Tech Digital Asia, and the Indonesian government on a project that aims to map marine resources using innovative technologies to safeguard the ocean ecosystem.

G42 stated that it intends to use its cloud infrastructure and services, Bayanat’s remote sensing drone systems—a publicly traded company in which G42 owns a majority stake—and G42 Healthcare’s marine genomics applications to carry out a sophisticated analysis of the coastal and oceanic environments.

“Better data is vital to developing a more holistic view of our oceans’ condition … we are looking to support the development of new, tailored solutions and technologies that will help local authorities to protect the marine environment for the benefit of present and future generations,” said Peng Xiao, group chief executive at G42.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, poor solid waste management is a significant cause of 80% of marine litter from land-based sources.

The new cooperation will assist the Indonesian government, headed by the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (CMMAI), in employing modern technology to better the management of maritime resources, including biodiversity and ecosystem conservation. Additionally, it will hasten the objective of OceanX, which is to investigate the ocean and share its findings with the world through instructional media.

“Oceans are highly complex environments, and monitoring and research can present many challenges to researchers and scientists in this field. Bayanat is applying its expertise in real-time geospatial services and solutions and handling large-scale data to develop the tools that will allow the research community to leverage big data analysis of the maritime environment,” said Prashanth Marpu, director of the geospatial center of excellence and climate action Program at Bayanat.

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