At the 2022 edition of the international digital forum Darwin’s Circle, Huawei launched the Vienna Tech for Green Initiative together with Darwin’s Circle, and presented how technology is a key enabler of sustainability.
“Innovative ideas for environment protection with the help of high-tech were shared and exchanged at today’s event,” said Nikolaus Pelinka, founder of Darwin’s Circle. “Facing the global challenge of climate change and biodiversity loss, we all have a role to play, and digital technologies can enable us in the ongoing search for solutions.”
To tackle pressing environmental issues such as climate change, Darwin’s Circle and Huawei called for companies from different industries and sectors to join the initiative. Part of the initiative’s remit will be to develop a white paper that explores industry insights and best practices for building a green future.
Tech4Nature in Austria
At the event, Huawei also gave examples of how digital technology can enable nature conservation. In collaboration with the University of Vienna, Austrian Neusiedler See National Park, and the NGO RFCx, Huawei Austria is running a two-year Tech4Nature project to conduct research in biodiversity under Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative. The project uses bioacoustics technology to monitor birds, bats, and amphibians that inhabit the reed belt of Europe’s westernmost lake, Lake Neusiedl. The data collected will be used to optimize measures for protecting the shrinking reed belt and the species that depend on it for their survival.
To date, 72 Guardian devices installed over an area of 12 km² have recorded 11,600 hours of audio data totaling 4,000 GB.
“Digitalization and the use of electronic means to obtain and process environmental data make an important contribution to identifying necessary measures and their impact on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” said Christian Holzer, General Director of the Environment and Circular Economy Section for the Ministry of the Environment in Austria.
Digital technologies and a data-driven approach play a key role in conserving nature by vastly improving the coverage, efficiency, and insights that are essential for adaptive conservation management and strategies.
“Digital transformation and innovation are conditions for sustainable development ,” said Marco Kamiya, Chief of Innovation and Digitalization Division of UNIDO in his speech at Darwin’s Circle.
Other speakers at this year’s Darwin’s Circle included Hermann Erlach, General Manager of Microsoft Austria; Harald Grabenhofer, researcher at the Neusiedler See National Park; David Morris, Vice Chair at UN Asia Pacific Sustainable Business Network; and Radoslaw Kedzia, Vice President of Huawei CEE & Nordic Region.
