DataLab for Wildlife Protection

More species are being threatened with extinction than ever before. To protect them we need to bring together and boost our strengths!

In regular life we use technologies to tackle all kinds of problems. So should we when it comes to the protection of wildlife.

To accelerate data-driven innovation, Sensing Clues, together with Nieuwegein City, DIKW Intelligence and Bluemine, set up the Nieuwegein Datalab (NGDL).

The DataLab is a meeting space and hands-on laboratory for everyone interested in Data Science, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence. A space to experiment, to develop and challenge new ideas.

Working together with professionals, scientists, and students, Sensing Clues uses the DataLab as incubator for data driven solutions for the protection of wildlife.

Curious? Below are two of the projects we are working on:

• Sound Event Recognition for Vigilance and Localisation (SERVAL)

• Wildlife Crime Analyst Toolbox (WildCAT)

Want to join one of our projects or to start a data-driven wildlife protection project of your own? Just drop us a note to start your expedition!

Data Scientists saving rhinos!

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).