WESTMINSTER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DigitalGlobe, a Maxar Technologies company (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.) (NYSE: MAXR; TSX: MAXR), announced today that CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) will leverage the company’s Geospatial Big Data platform (GBDX) to answer agricultural questions across the globe by using machine learning at scale. CGIAR’s Platform for Big Data in Agriculture democratizes data to digitally transform agriculture and address global challenges such as food security, health, environment, climate and prosperity to improve the lives of people in developing countries.
CGIAR’s geospatial scientists will mine DigitalGlobe’s 100 petabyte imagery library using machine learning and the computational power of GBDX to create more sophisticated baseline datasets in agriculture, plan new projects and monitor crop health, crop yield and the environmental impacts of farming. In addition, GBDX will fuel CGIAR’s research and development efforts to improve agricultural information products and create new ones.
With the support of CGIAR’s Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, the scientists are leveraging GBDX to examine:
| 1. | Land tenure: By finding and identifying parcel delineation, the scientists will aid families in securing property rights and helping communities mature and prosper. The group will initially examine India, Ethiopia and West Africa. | ||
| 2. | Crop yield estimation and crop production estimation: By predicting and measuring the availability of food, particularly staple crops like rice, the scientists will help regions move away from food insecurity. | ||
| 3. | Water resource conservation: The scientists will model water use and quality of watersheds. The resulting outputs will be paired with high-resolution imagery to inform farmers of the right times to irrigate their fields in South Asia. | ||
| 4. | Pest and disease monitoring: The scientists will predict the spread of crop pests and disease to develop early interventions. They will initially focus on the spread of the fall armyworm insect in sub-Saharan Africa, which has affected a dozen countries in one year. | ||
“By combining DigitalGlobe’s best-in-class imagery and our GBDX machine learning platform with CGIAR’s global footprint and domain expertise, we will collaborate to create technical breakthroughs for farmers around the globe,” said Amy Minnick, DigitalGlobe Senior Vice President and General Manager of Commercial. “Together with CGIAR, we’ll design machine learning solutions that will change the lives of farmers, their communities, and therefore, the planet, helping us all see a better world.”
“Partnering with DigitalGlobe delivers a clearer picture than ever before of land use, natural resources, crop lands and much more, which we need to develop the strategies to build lasting food security worldwide,” said Brian King, Coordinator for the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture. “We are confident our work in GBDX will unlock the creative and innovative minds of CGIAR’s researchers and help them catalyze digital agriculture, leading to a better quality of life across the developing world.”
About DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe is the global leader in commercial high-resolution satellite imagery used by decision makers to better understand our changing planet in order to save lives, resources and time. Sourced from the world's leading constellation, our imagery solutions deliver unmatched coverage and capacity to meet our customers' most demanding mission requirements. Each day customers in defense and intelligence, public safety, civil agencies, map making and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, navigation technology, and providers of location-based services depend on DigitalGlobe data, information, technology and expertise to gain actionable insight. DigitalGlobe is a Maxar Technologies company (NYSE: MAXR; TSX: MAXR). For more information visit www.DigitalGlobe.com.
About Maxar Technologies
As a global leader of advanced space technology solutions, Maxar Technologies (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates) is at the nexus of the new space economy, developing and sustaining the infrastructure and delivering the information, services, systems that unlock the promise of space for commercial and government markets. As a trusted partner, Maxar Technologies provides vertically-integrated capabilities and expertise including satellites, Earth imagery, robotics, geospatial data and analytics to help customers anticipate and address their most complex mission-critical challenges with confidence. With more than 6,500 employees in over 30 global locations, the Maxar Technologies portfolio of commercial space brands includes MDA, SSL, DigitalGlobe and Radiant Solutions. Every day, billions of people rely on Maxar to communicate, share information and data, and deliver insights that Build a Better World. Maxar trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange as MAXR. For more information, visit www.maxar.com.
About the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture
The Platform was by launched by CGIAR in 2017 as an innovation hub to increase the impact of agricultural development by embracing big data approaches to solve development problems faster, better and at greater scale than before. It focuses on opening up and sharing agricultural data, coordinating the research efforts of the 15 CGIAR centers and external partners, and empowering smallholder farmers through the democratization of agriculture information. In accordance with CGIAR’s mission to eliminating global hunger through agricultural science, the Platform has the potential to usher in a new era for agricultural research, farming, and the global food system.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements and information, which reflect the current view of Maxar Technologies Ltd. (the “Company” or “Maxar”) with respect to future events and financial performance. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future financial performance. Any such forward-looking statements are based on Maxar’s current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions made in light of its experience and perception of historical trends and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such forward looking statements. Maxar’s actual results of operations could differ materially from historical results or current expectations. Some of the risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to: the loss or reduction in scope of any of our primary contracts, or decisions by customers not to exercise renewal options; the loss or damage to any of our satellites; delays in the construction and launch of any of our satellites or our ability to achieve and maintain full operational capacity of all our satellites; loss or damage to the content contained in our ImageLibrary; interruption or failure of our ground systems and other infrastructure; decrease in demand for our imagery products and services; increased competition that may reduce our market share or cause us to lower our prices; changes in political or economic conditions, including fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies, interest rates, energy and commodity prices, trade laws and the effects of governmental initiatives to manage economic conditions; failure to obtain or maintain required regulatory approvals and licenses; and, changes in Canadian, U.S. or other law or regulation that may limit our ability to distribute our imagery products and services.
For additional information with respect to certain of these risks or factors, plus additional risks or factors, reference should be made to the Company's continuous disclosure materials filed from time to time with Canadian and U.S. securities regulatory authorities, which are available online under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, under the Company's EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov, or on the Company's website at www.maxar.com.