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LONDON, March 1,
2023 /CNW/ - As part of its Environmental, Social,
and Governance (ESG) strategy, CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) has
partnered with Project Seagrass, a global charity devoted to
seagrass conservation, to develop an open-source algorithm that
helps locate, quantify and track seagrass meadows initially across
the UK region. The new algorithm launches today, the United
Nation's first-ever World Seagrass Day.
CGI and Project Seagrass have developed the algorithm to support
academic and government plans for protecting vital seagrass
ecosystems, which, in turn, help to mitigate climate change.
Tara McGeehan, President of CGI
in the UK and Australia, said: "At
CGI, we support the no planet B initiative. As such, we are
consciously trying to support our planet and its resources to
protect future generations. By leveraging our IP, and through our
pro-bono collaboration with Project Seagrass, the development of an
open-source algorithm has been an important milestone for us. We
now hope to continue to work to enhance the algorithm in
partnership with open-source community organizations, academia, and
government."
The open-source algorithm is designed to pinpoint and quantify
seagrass meadows as part of CGI's proprietary CGI GeoData360 Earth
observation data processing platform, which leverages data from the
European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Satellite Earth
Observation Mission and processes it via the seagrass
identification algorithm. The CGI GeoData360 platform and the ESA
Earth observation imagery can be trained to create new algorithms
which could be used to deliver seagrass identifications anywhere in
the world with access to relevant data.
CGI and Project Seagrass have released the latest version of the
open-source algorithm to enable community collaboration and
continued development of the algorithm.
Richard Unsworth, Founding
Director of Project Seagrass, said: "By working in partnership with
CGI, we've been able to make good progress on mapping at a local
level. We are pleased to now open-source our work and look forward
to the collaboration this release stimulates, as well as input from
others to help enhance the algorithm and ensure the data is
correct. It's a pleasure working with this professional team. By
working together, we can secure a better future for all."
CGI and Project Seagrass are committed to encouraging academic
organizations, environmentalists, and governments across the UK to
learn about the incredible role seagrass plays in protecting our
planet. Seagrass acts as a powerful carbon sink, a natural resource
that absorbs carbon, with the potential to lock carbon away for
thousands of years. However, seagrass meadows are under threat from
coastal development, pollution, and damage from human activity
within marine environments. Seagrass also acts as a nursery for
young fish and other animals, thus increasing the biodiversity and
food supply of our coastal waters. Understanding where seagrass is
located is critical to conservation efforts, enabling local policy
and conservation teams to collaborate in preserving this important
natural resource.
As part of its ESG commitment, CGI collaborates with clients,
academia, governments, and charities across the globe to improve
the economic, social and environmental well-being of communities
and their citizens. For more information, read CGI's 2022 ESG
report.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and
business consulting services firms in the world. With 90,250
consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an
end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and
business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business
process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works
with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a
global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform
their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2022
reported revenue is $12.87 billion
and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE
(GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.
ABOUT PROJECT SEAGRASS
Founded in 2013, Project Seagrass is an environmental charity
devoted to the conservation of seagrass ecosystems through
community, research and action. Their mission is to lead societal
change to enable the recognition, recovery and resilience of
seagrass ecosystems globally: that provide biodiversity, equitable
and sustainable livelihoods, and planetary life support.
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content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cgi-and-project-seagrass-release-new-open-source-algorithm-to-help-mitigate-climate-change-301759358.html
SOURCE CGI Inc.