After supporting innovations related to sustainable agriculture and clean energy, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) will support water projects in Africa and elsewhere in the world. The call for innovations was launched on March 14, 2023, as a prelude to the United Nations (UN) Conference on Water, which has been held since March 22, 2023 in New York, United States of America. The American multinational technology company wants through this initiative to support the efforts of non-profit and governmental organizations in improving access to drinking water, as well as the quality of this resource facing many challenges such as pollution.
The expected projects will therefore focus on the exploitation of the resource to meet specific needs, and the preservation and restoration of water-related ecosystems, particularly in areas vulnerable to environmental threats.
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Non-profit and governmental organizations may also submit water management projects in sanitation, as clean water limits the spread of waterborne diseases. Water specialists interested in participating in the project have until the end of May 2023 to formulate their proposals.
IBM will be coached by Ben Mandell, a utility expert at Water.org, Mary M. Matthews, the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Ocean Innovation Challenge Manager, and other expert partners in selecting projects to be part of the IBM Sustainability Accelerator cohort. The pro-bono social impact program launched in February 2022, applies IBM technologies such as hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as an ecosystem of experts to improve and scale initiatives of nonprofit and government organizations helping people.
The list of selected projects will be announced in November 2023. In addition to expert consulting services, winners will benefit from hybrid cloud solutions, AI, and more.
Inès Magoum