On Friday 7th July 2017 JADS will host the first-ever Wildlife Hackathon. During a full day of data- and brain-crunching activity, no less than 50 students and two data science teams of KPN and DIKW will dedicate themselves to find ways in which data can save some of the most threatened species in Africa.
The competing teams will be presented with two challenges. One presented by the Resource Ecology Group of Wageningen University. The other by Sensing Clues.
The challenge presented by Wageningen University is aimed at the preservation of rhino’s, by finding correlations between the time-spatial distribution and movement of zebra herds versus the presence of poachers wandering through the park. The brilliance of this approach is that the rhino’s do not have to be equipped with radio-beacons, which are easy to detect by professional poachers.
The challenge presented by Sensing Clues is aimed at reducing the conflict between humans and elephants. By accurately recognising the sounds of approaching elephants, villagers can be warned in time, thus preventing deadly confrontations (see also: SERVAL sensor). In this hackathon the students will be challenged to outperform the classifier created by Hugo, our most experienced data scientist.
This unique event is the result of a close collaboration between JADS and a Game Reserve in South Africa. Journalists interested in joining the event may contact Patricia Beks (p.beks at tue.nl / tel. + 31 (0) 6 31 242 757).