Harnessing the power of AI to drive equitable climate solutions: The AI for Equity Challenge

The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing our world today. Its impacts are far-reaching, affecting every aspect of our lives—from public health and food security to economic stability and social justice. What’s more, the effects of climate change disproportionately burden the world’s most vulnerable populations, exacerbating existing inequities around gender, race, and socioeconomic status.

But we have the power to create change. By harnessing the transformative potential of AI, we can develop innovative solutions to tackle the intersectional challenges at the heart of the climate crisis. That’s why the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), Zindi, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are proud to announce the launch of the “AI for Equity Challenge: Climate Action, Gender, and Health”—a global virtual competition aimed at empowering organizations to use advanced AI and cloud technologies to drive real-world impact with a focus on benefitting vulnerable populations around the world.

Aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 5, and 13—focused on good health and well-being, gender equality, and climate action respectively—this challenge seeks to uncover the most promising AI-powered solutions that address the compounding issues of climate change, gender equity, and public health. By bringing together a diverse global community of innovators, we hope to accelerate the development of equitable, sustainable, and impactful applications of AI for the greater good.

“As artificial intelligence rapidly evolves, it is crucial that we harness its potential to address real-world challenges. At IRCAI, our mission is to guide the ethical development of AI technologies, ensuring they serve the greater good and are inclusive of marginalized AI communities. This challenge, in collaboration with AWS, is an opportunity to discover and support the most innovative minds that are using AI and advanced computing to create impactful solutions for the climate crisis.”

– Davor Orlic, COO at IRCAI.

The challenge will unfold in two phases, welcoming both ideators and solution builders to participate. In the first phase, organizations are invited to submit technical proposals outlining specific challenges at the intersection of climate action, gender equity, and health that they aim to address using AI and cloud technologies. A steering committee convened by IRCAI will evaluate these proposals based on criteria such as innovation, feasibility, and potential for global impact. The competition will be judged and mentored in collaboration with NAIXUS, a network of AI and sustainable development research organizations.

The top two winning proposals from the first phase will then advance to the second round, where they will serve as the foundation for two AI challenges hosted on the Zindi platform. During this phase, developers and data scientists from around the world will compete to build the most successful AI-powered solutions to tackle the real-world problems identified by the first-round winners.

AI for Equity Challenge Timeline

The winning AI solutions from the second-round challenges will belong entirely to the organizations that submitted the original winning proposals, who will also receive $15,000 in AWS credits and technical support from AWS and IRCAI to help implement their solutions. Additionally, the first-place teams in each of the two final Zindi challenges will receive cash prizes of $6,000, $4,000, and $2,500 for first, second, and third place respectively.

But the true reward goes beyond the prizes. By participating in this challenge, organizations and individuals alike will have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the lives of those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Through the power of AI and advanced cloud computing, we can develop groundbreaking solutions that empower women, improve public health outcomes, and drive sustainable progress on the climate action front.

Throughout the hackathon, participants will have access to a wealth of resources, including mentorship from industry experts, training materials, and AWS cloud computing resources. Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI), a collaboration between AWS and leading scientific organizations, provides a catalog of over 200 datasets spanning climate projections, satellite imagery, air quality data, and more, enabling participants to build robust and data-driven solutions.

“Climate change is one of the greatest threats of our time, and we believe innovation is key to overcoming it. The AI for Equity Challenge invites innovators to bring forward their most visionary ideas, and we’ll support them with AWS resources — whether that’s computing power or advanced cloud technologies — to turn those ideas into reality. Our goal is to drive cloud innovation, support sustainability solutions, and make a meaningful impact on the climate crisis.”

– Dave Levy, Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector, AWS

This initiative is made possible through the support of ASDI, which provides researchers, scientists, and innovators with access to a wealth of publicly available datasets on AWS to advance their sustainability-focused work. The AI for Equity Challenge: Climate Action, Gender, and Health is open for submissions from September 23 to November 4, 2024. The two winning proposals from the first round will be announced on December 2, 2024, with the final AI challenge winners revealed on February 12, 2025.

Don’t miss your chance to be part of the solution. Visit https://zindi.africa/ai-equity-challenge to learn more and submit your proposal today. Together, we can harness the power of AI to create a more sustainable, equitable, and just world for generations to come.

Visit http://zindi.africa/ai-equity-challenge to learn more and participate.

This contest is hosted in collaboration with:

About the author

Joe Fontaine is the Product marketing lead for AWS AI Builder Programs. He is passionate about making machine learning more accessible to all through hands-on educational experiences. Outside of work he enjoys freeride mountain biking, aerial cinematography, and exploring the wilderness with his family.