16 June 2022, Geneva, Switzerland– The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) announced a collaboration with NVIDIA on training and research activities to promote the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Earth Observation activities in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with an initial emphasis on disaster management.

This cooperation framework allows UNOSAT and NVIDIA to benefit from their respective facilities, resources, and domain experience. The collaboration has two initial priorities: 1) integration of NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform within UNOSAT’s infrastructure to fast‐track research and development of AI for Earth Observation and 2) design and roll‐out of an e‐learning course on the use of deep learning for flood detection to upskill data scientists within disaster management agencies worldwide.

"UNOSAT is very pleased to team up with NVIDIA. Being able to extend our partnership in the AI sector to the private sphere will be a win for both of us. We look forward to closing the loop from research to implementation of solutions in the shortest time possible. AI research moves at unprecedented speed and we have to be part of this. Thus making sure that the most vulnerable can also benefit from this technology.” Einar Bjorgo, Director, UNOSAT

“NVIDIA and UNOSAT have a unique opportunity to combat the impact of climate change by training data scientists through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute on using GPU‐accelerated workloads to address natural disasters, such as floods and fires,” Keith Strier, vice president of Global AI Initiative at NVIDIA.

To learn more about the outcomes of this collaboration, follow UNOSAT on twitter and visit UNOSAT’s website.