AIT SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
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CONSERVE AND SUSTAINABLY USE THE OCEANS, SEA AND MARINE RESOURCES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
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022 saw AIT continue with efforts to deal with pollution in the Mekong Delta Basins, including from plastic waste, in collaboration with Google, including the use of digital tools, machine learning models, and geospatial techniques. A similar effort aimed to reduce plastic waste in Indonesian waterways. With support
from Japan and UNEP, AIT also organized training on mercury monitoring. Another joint event held in India addressed the ability of coastal ecosystems to deal with climate change. In collaboration with the Philippines and Lao PDR, another initiative aimed to address the issue of marine plastic debris.
AIT GEOINFORMATICS CENTER DEVELOPS A REAL-TIME FLOATING PLASTIC LITTER IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MEKONG RIVER USING AI-ENABLED SMART CCTV SYSTEMS
Duration: Description: The Mekong River, a vital lifeline for millions of people in Southeast Asia, is facing increasing threats from plastic pollution. The river, known as the “Mother of Water,” is being inundated with plastic waste as it flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. This pollution not only poses risks to human health and habitats but also impacts biodiversity and contributes to climate change. To address this issue, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) collaborated with the Geoinformatics Center (GIC) of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and Google on the CounterMEASURE II Project. The project leveraged citizen science and artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the extent of plastic pollution in the Mekong River. Through the use of digital tools, machine learning models, and geospatial techniques, the AIT-GIC team mapped plastic leakage hotspots and identified the pathways through which plastic waste enters the river. The project also involved the active participation of citizen scientists who contributed annotated images to enhance the accuracy of the AI model. The successful implementation of the project led to the development of a detailed digital map of plastic pollution in the Mekong River. The AIT-GIC researchers utilized smart
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems powered by solar panels to detect and monitor floating plastics in real-time. By combining various data sources and applying advanced deep learning methods, they identified significant plastic leakage hotspots along the riverbanks. The findings from this research are crucial for informing policy decisions and actions to combat plastic pollution and ensure a plastic-free future for rivers like the Mekong. The efforts of the AIT-GIC team in collaboration with UNEP and Google demonstrate the potential of using innovative technologies and citizen engagement to tackle the global issue of plastic pollution in our waterways. 🌐 https://ait.ac.th/2022/07/eyes-on-the-mekong-to-combat-
plastic-pollution
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