ImpactAlpha, August 30 – The Rockefeller Foundation is backing a digital platform to aid policymakers in understanding how and where resilient infrastructure could mitigate climate shocks and promote economic development.
The partnership with predictive analytics company Atlas AI and energy access coalition e-GUIDE will collect and analyze community-level data to identify green infrastructure opportunities in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda. E-GUIDE, a collaboration between Rockefeller and five U.S. universities, uses artificial intelligence to predict energy consumption in Africa, particularly in agriculture. Atlas AI builds hyperlocal socio-economic datasets.
“Efforts to drive change in energy, agriculture and transportation must be integrated in order to make opportunity universal and sustainable,” said Rockefeller’s Zia Khan.
Climate adaptation
Countries in Africa together contribute less than 3% of global carbon emissions but are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Better data insights can guide African governments in helping local populations weather climate impacts.
Through the partnership, e-GUIDE will build new tools “to measure how infrastructural developments such as roads, electricity systems and agriculture lead to economic development,” said Jay Taneja of partner UMass Amherst.
