Microsoft to Build Planetary Computer: CBR

Microsoft is launching a program, Planetary Computer, to aggregate environmental data – mapping trillions of data points to monitor the Earth’s biodiversity, water tables, forestry data, carbon and waste to provide a searchable dataset. “The move is the company’s latest major environmental push, after promising in January to become “carbon negative” by the end of this decade,” reports Ed Targett for Computer Business Review. “All will be augmented with geospatial data sets.” The program, expected to contribute to scientific research of the planet’s complex systems, will be available to 500 organizations that are partners of Microsoft’s AI for Earth project. “Understanding what species call those ecosystems home or why they thrive or decline is largely unknown,” notes Microsoft President Brad Smith notes. “We simply can’t solve a problem we don’t fully understand.” The project will have applications for agriculture, coastal planning and more. Microsoft also has set a goal of becoming carbon negative and protecting more land than it uses before 2030. The land protection initiative would would include land acquisition with Nature Conservancy.– YaleGlobal