Cleaning up New Zealand's coastlines one bot at a time - Microsoft NZ

New Zealand, 26 October 2018 – Yesterday at Microsoft's inaugural AI event, Future Now, real-life applications of how AI will help shape New Zealand were brought to life demonstrating that AI is an important driver of new solutions to address some of our biggest societal challenges. Damon Kelly, Enlighten Designs CEO and Microsoft Partner showcased an exciting new initiative with Sustainable Coastlines aiming to make citizen scientists of us all by arming us with right data and insights to help keep our country clean, green and beautiful. Kelly said, "We have partnered with Sustainable Coastlines and Microsoft's Azure platform to develop an AI-powered tool that empowers Kiwis in cleaning up New Zealand's beaches. The tool is the first of its kind in New Zealand and uses Microsoft's Cognitive Services, alongside a United Nations Environment Programme methodology, to help communities around the country capture and categorise what litter is on our beaches." Working alongside the Ministry for the Environment, Department of Conservation and Statistics New Zealand, data collected from Sustainable Coastlines' new tool will be used to help establish a New Zealand-first national litter database.