Alibaba Cloud to Work with Kenyan Ministry to Protect Wildlife
September 19 2018 - 3:42AM
Business Wire
Collaboration on Wildlife Protection Project
will leverage AI and IoT technologies
Alibaba Cloud, the cloud-computing arm of Alibaba Group, and the
Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife of the Republic of Kenya today
agreed to explore a strategic collaboration to deploy Alibaba
Cloud’s technology to support the Kenya Wildlife Protection
Project.
The first project under the collaboration in discussion will
take place at a designated area inside the Tsavo East and West
National Parks, one of Kenya’s oldest and largest protected area
with over 13,500 square kilometres. Leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s
powerful computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of
Things (IoT) capabilities; the project will work to protect the
park’s endangered elephants, rhinoceroses and lions.
“It is our great honour to support the Kenyan government and
make a contribution to the country’s wildlife conservation efforts.
The collaboration underscores the positive impact that technology,
including cloud computing, AI and IoT, can have on the planet and
on wildlife protection,” said Simon Hu, Senior Vice President of
Alibaba Group and President of Alibaba Cloud. “We look forward
to joining our global partners and stakeholders in improving the
protection of Kenya’s wildlife and vital ecosystems through
technology innovation.”
“Wildlife is the main attraction to tourists visiting Kenya.
Among the key species attractions are the elephant, rhino, giraffe,
and buffalo among others. Currently, Kenya has a population of
about 35,000 elephants, and about 42% of this population (12,843)
elephants occur in the Tsavo ecosystem. In addition, the ecosystem
also provide critical habitat for rhinos, giraffe and lions among
other species. It is therefore important for the Government of
Kenya to use technology to protect wildlife and their habitats in
the Tsavo ecosystem. As a country, we are indeed happy to embrace
such technology from Alibaba Group to enhance our wildlife security
and protection,” said Dr. Margaret Mwakima, Principal Secretary
from the Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife.
Both parties will explore using a wide range of features
connected to Alibaba Cloud’s IoT platform for the project. Animal
tracking sensors, infra-red trap cameras, smart weather stations,
ranger devices and wide-area drones are among the technologies that
will be considered to be installed to collect real-time data of the
movements and general health of the animals. The platform would
then analyse the data and predict their behaviour and travel
routes, alerting the command center about potential risks or
dangers, such as illegal poaching and human-animal conflicts. This
could help direct the deployment of ground teams to act more
quickly and better manage the park.
In addition, both parties will explore ways to combine the local
operator’s GSM telecommunications network with government-licensed
satellites to build the infrastructure, which could make data
transmission more intelligent and less costly, achieving near
real-time updates. Advanced hardware would be used as well, such as
light-weight solar-powered trackers that are easier for the animals
to wear.
The project in Tsavo is only the first step in exploring the
partnership between Alibaba Cloud and the Kenyan Government. The
parties have agreed to explore the potential to expand the
protection project to more parks across Kenya, and, ultimately,
build a nationwide, digital ecological protection platform. Both
parties will also explore cooperation in staff training and the
development of educational-tourism opportunities in Kenya. This
latest initiative follows the visit of Jack Ma to Africa earlier in
2018, as well as the company’s support of a fund to support
entrepreneurs in the region.
About Alibaba Cloud
Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com), the
cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, is among the world’s top
three IaaS providers according to Gartner, and the largest provider
of public cloud services in China, according to IDC. Alibaba Cloud
provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to
businesses worldwide, including merchants doing business on Alibaba
Group marketplaces, start-ups, corporations and government
organizations. Alibaba Cloud is the official Cloud Services Partner
of the International Olympic Committee.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180919005247/en/
Alibaba GroupCrystal Liu, +852 6378 5626/86
18578497650Crystal.liu@alibaba-inc.comorAlibaba GroupJowie Law, +86
13625719035yukman.lum@alibaba-inc.com
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