AI
for Good
02
AI
for Good
WRITTEN BY
MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY
NATHAN HOLMES
03
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MICROSOFT
Microsoft is using pioneering technology including AI and machine learning to address the world’s most critical challenges
A
ccording to the UN’s Environment Emissions Gap Report 2018, “now more than ever, unprecedented and urgent
action is required” to address the climate and sustainability crisis faced globally. Achieving 04
a sustainable and prosperous planet requires a concerted effort and, in this era, the pace of movement must be accelerated. Chiefly, this acceleration can be achieved through the driving of collaboration between public-private partnerships, the greater enforcement of policy on a global scale, and, according to technology giant Microsoft, the harnessing of the power of digital technology to combat climate change. Elaborating on this, Mike Chan, General Manager Azure, Microsoft APAC, says: “At Microsoft we are committed to delivering on our environmental goals for sustainability and empowering our customers and partner ecosystem with the technology and tools to deliver on theirs. This starts with data capture, harnessing the power of the intelligent Cloud – a platform of limitless
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“ We are committed to delivering on our environmental goals for sustainability and empowering our customers and partner ecosystem” — Mike Chan General Manager Azure, Microsoft APAC 06
compute scale – and driving innovation to meet demanding business challenges and create meaningful impact with speed and agility.” Microsoft is leading the acceleration of movement in this field. The business, world-renowned for its innovative and pioneering technology, is working more closely than ever with partners and customers to use AI and other digital technologies to address global sustainability challenges. The former, for example, has the power to amplify human ingenuity and extend our capabilities so that we can achieve more, says Microsoft. “Democratising technology is of utmost importance to Microsoft; the power of accessibility and inclusivity in the digital age will transform industries, collectively enabling us to become more productive and jointly solve society’s biggest challenges,” says Sherie Ng, General Manager Public Sector APAC at the company. “With technology, we are empowered to create a future for the greater good – imagine a future with limitless possibilities.” On a wider level, the company believes in the power of technology
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘AI FOR GOOD’ 07 for the common good to drive soci-
years, investing $50mn in five years to
etal impact, and enable a range of
advance the use of cloud and AI tech-
economic and social opportunities.
nologies in an environmental capacity,
Through partnerships and investments
100% carbon neutrality across the
with the public, private and civic sec-
company’s global operations every
tors – the United Nations and other
year since 2012, and a 20% reduc-
global non-profit organisations – it
tion in product packaging for all new
aims to contribute towards achiev-
devices in 2018.
ing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Since 2009, Microsoft has made
In April this year, Microsoft announced it would close to double its internal carbon fee to $15 per met-
and met several commitments towards
ric tonne on all carbon emissions. It
environmental sustainability. These
also detailed ongoing plans to further
include a drive to cut operational car-
implement renewable energy and
bon emissions by 75% over the next 11
innovation into its data centres (60% w w w.mi c ro sof t . com
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renewable energy use by 2020). Here, the business is dedicated to building a
and zero-waste. These achievements are impressive
“responsible cloud of the future�. It aims
enough in isolation. However, core to
to achieve this through measures such
Microsoft’s sustainability vision, is the
as ensuring that 50% of the current
belief that its ambition and the tech-
volume of electricity used by its data
nologies it develops should empower
centres is from green energy sources
others. In 2017, the company launched
such as wind, solar and hydropower.
its AI for Earth Grant initiative, which
In addition, Microsoft is committed
sees it partner with leading environ-
to its sustainable campuses building
mental and research groups to develop
initiative. These, in combination with its
AI, machine learning and cloud-related
smart building technology, will see the
solutions to problems such as climate
company become the first large corpo-
change. Since then, Microsoft has
rate campus to achieve zero-carbon
awarded more than 230 grants to
recipients in around 60 countries. AI
that the company conducted with PwC
for Earth represents a US$50 million,
on how the technology can enable a
five-year commitment to put artificial
sustainable future. This suggested
intelligence technology in the hands of
several benefits to greater AI adoption,
individuals and organisations around
including reducing global greenhouse
the world who are working to protect
gas emissions by up to 4% by 2030,
the planet across four key areas – agri-
gains of as much as $5.2tn to busi-
culture, biodiversity, climate change,
nesses through improved productivity
and water. The initiative reinforces the
and automation, and a 4.4% rise on
crucial role that Microsoft believes AI
global GDP by 2030.
will play in the future. Further evidence of this can be found in a research paper
The business is currently working on several related projects with partners 09
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Sherie Ng Sherie leads Microsoft’s public sector business across Asia Pacific, together with the larger partner eco-system spearhead and accelerate pace of digital transformation for governments, healthcare and education institutions as well as large state-owned enterprises in the region. An industry veteran with more than 22 years of experience in managing businesses in high tech sector, Sherie is passionate about technology’s role in enabling societal shifts, empowering people for inclusive and sustainable development of societies. prior to Microsoft, Sherie was the managing director for NICE in Asia-Pacific, where she helped large enterprises embrace digital innovation for business breakthroughs with robotics, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and smart data. Her previous experiences include leadership roles at Invensys, Singtel, CSG and Lucent Technologies.
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and customers in the energy sector
entered into partnership with Microsoft
under the banner of ‘tech intensity’,
to migrate Hermes to Microsoft Azure,
which describes using the latest tech-
thus improving inspection times sig-
nology to drive efficiencies and create
nificantly, allowing for the capture and
a more sustainable planet.
use of better data and enabling greater
Close collaboration with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, for example, has helped to make renewable
predictive maintenance and fewer costly repairs. According to the World Health
energy more affordable and sustain-
Organization, a staggering 66 people
able. Siemens was previously using its
on average die in road accidents every
Hermes system – autonomous drones
day in Thailand. PTT Global Chemical
coupled with a digital platform – to
Public Company Limited (GC) plans
monitor its wind turbines. The company
to reduce the accident rate on the
Bangkok to Rayong route and enable the safety of more than 4,000 employees that clock up around 8,000 trips between the two locations. GC worked with its shuttle drivers, Microsoft and Frontis to design the ‘AI for Road Safety’ solution, which uses facial recognition AI to detect and alert when drivers show signs of risk such as drowsiness and distraction. GC sees the programme as a major component of its intention to contribute to society, especially in Rayong, where the company has a number of factories Elsewhere, water and energy technologies provider Ecolab and energy
“ The power of accessibility and inclusivity in the digital age will transform industries” — Sherie Ng General Manager, Public Sector APAC Microsoft
company Orsted, have implemented Microsoft Azure, as well as its IoT and AI solutions, to make significant leaps forward in improving water conservation and the efficiency of renewable energy respectively. By 2050, the demand for food is expected to outpace production by over 70%. Farmers need access to better data on their land in order to maximise both efficiency and yield, while at the same time, reducing environmental impact. However, gathering data from farms is difficult due w w w.mi c ro sof t . com
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12 to typically low technology adoption rates by farmers, particularly in the developing world, where access to technology is often limited. To address these issues, Microsoft is working to enabling greater precision in farming with the use of AI through Farmbeats. This uses the company’s machine learning algorithms, together with lowcost sensors, drones, and other data to deliver actionable insights to farmers. Microsoft believes that this data, coupled with the farmer’s knowledge of his or her farm, can help to increase farm productivity while reducing
environmental impact and out-ofpocket costs. With transport and buildings making a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, Microsoft is also focused on ‘architecture for the new world’, or smart cities. In this field, the business has several key innovations around smart buildings and smart energy. Microsoft ICONICS, for example, is a smart building software that collects and analyses IoT sensor data from building management systems to give information on general property status, as well as where improvements can be made to achieve greater energy efficiency and lower maintenance costs. An example of the company’s work in this sector can be seen in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei. The city has experienced rapid growth in recent years, and thus city planners were looking for methods of streamlining its municipal operations while improving energy efficiency and safety for citizens. Microsoft partnered with local company AAEON to develop an IoT-based solution that would form the basis of a cloud-based monitoring system for the city’s more than 150,000 w w w.mi c ro sof t . com
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street lights. Previously, city officials had followed a reactive maintenance programme, based on citizens reporting light failures before maintenance teams were eventually sent to the location. Instead, the AAEON Lighting Control System enables predictive and preventive maintenance, optimises the duration that the lights are on in order to maximise safety and forms part of a greater holistic ecosystem for a wider smart city concept. Naturally, such dedication to as important a cause as the world’s 14
climate requires a resolute and single-minded culture within the business. Microsoft believes that every
“ Microsoft believes that every employee must play a central role in transformation and making a difference […] this mindset is fostered under the theme of ‘AI for Good’” — Sherie Ng General Manager, Public Sector APAC Microsoft
employee must play a central role in transformation and making a difference. The company encourages members of staff to always focus on learning, to take risks and to fail fast – by doing so, it states, they will make a difference and find a deeper meaning in their work. This mindset is fostered under the theme of ‘AI for Good’: combining the company’s technology and expertise in artificial intelligence and data science with the talent and expertise of groups around the world in fields such as environmental science,
1975
Year founded
$125bn+ Approximate revenue (2019)
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disability needs and humanitarian
global network capable of connecting
assistance to create a more sustain-
billions, even trillions, of datapoints
able and accessible world.
about the global environment. This
In the longer term, Microsoft remains
system, says Joppa, would have
focused on leveraging the power of
“the computing power and machine
technology and innovation. In particu-
learning tools to process them into
lar, according to the company’s Chief
actionable insights that will empower
Sustainability Officer Lucas Joppa,
decision makers in every corner of the
the ultimate solution could come in
globe to put sustainability first. And,
the form of an ambitious and innova-
although parts of this plan may seem
tive “planetary computer”. The scale of
like science fiction, it could be a reality
innovation here would be significant, as
in the near future.”
Joppa explains, revolving around the development and implementation of a w w w.mi c ro sof t . com
Microsoft Asia Pacific 182 Cecil Street #13-01 Fraser Tower Singapore 069547 T +65 6882 8899 www.microsoft.com news.microsoft.com/apac