Embracing a Sustainable Future: Aboitiz Data Innovation and globally-renowned institute Mila join forces to combat climate change with AI

Aboitiz Data Innovation (ADI) and Mila – Quebec AI Institute, a research community headquartered in Montreal, Canada and founded by ACM A.M. Turing Award (often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing”) recipient Prof. Yoshua Bengio, recently signed a partnership agreement to leverage responsible AI to support decarbonisation initiatives in the Philippines and beyond.

“As an organisation, few areas get us as excited as advancing Science that impacts our resilience facing climate change. The focus in doing so via a decarbonised future is very high on that list. The partnership formalised between Aboitiz Data Innovation and Mila will be focused on providing a more climate-resilient energy system for the Philippines and its people. We look forward to the impacts this partnership will have,” said Prof. Bengio.

The partnership was sealed at a signing ceremony during the inaugural AI Summit in the Philippines (AI Summit PH 2023) held from 10 to 11 May at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Pasay, Philippines. ADI was represented by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. David R. Hardoon while Frederic Laurin represented Mila as its Senior Director for Partnerships. The signing was witnessed by Luis F. Gonzalez, ADI Chief Operating Officer for Power.

Gonzalez emphasised, “The Philippines encompasses a unique combination of challenges prevalent in the energy industry, including significant climate change impact, ambitious decarbonization goals, rapid GDP growth, and naturally distributed power grids. These factors present an ideal opportunity and breeding ground for developing solutions tailored to the Philippines and have the potential for global scalability. Our partnership with Mila is the beginning to invite the world’s best minds to incubate solutions with ADI for real-world impact.”

Together with Mila, ADI aims to use their AI/ML capabilities and exceptional talent pool to advance research and develop innovative solutions that can tackle globally impactful climate concerns like decarbonization in a responsible manner. Looking forward, both parties hope to help the Philippines reach net zero and to implement more AI-backed climate change solutions in the Asia Pacific region.

“Truly, there is no Planet B. It is our responsibility as people of the world to find ways to secure a net-zero, climate-resilient future. It may be a tall order at this point, but we believe that AI is a powerful tool to make it possible and accelerate action for people and the planet,” said ADI CEO Dr. Hardoon. “We’ve seen its efficacy in ADI’s previous projects, and it’s just the beginning of our ambition. We are excited to be on this journey with Mila as this will serve as an avenue for more collaboration and cooperation between the Institute and the Philippines in advancing AI to drive a positive social and environmental impact,” he added.

Since its inception, Mila, a result of a unique collaboration between top tertiary universities in Quebec, Canada, has focused on using its expertise and leadership in AI to explore the core areas of health, environment, climate change, and AI ethics, delivering advances that will benefit society.

Stéphane Létourneau, Mila Executive Vice-President said, “Advancing science to support climate change resilience and a decarbonized future is one of Mila’s core priorities and AI technology has the capacity to help us build responsible solutions to combat climate change. Mila is committed to foremostly pursuing ethically valuable collaborations that allow us to implement the solutions we generate with AI, and we believe that our partnership with ADI will reflect this approach. We look forward to helping ADI support the Philippines and the APAC region in creating a more climate-resilient energy system and in reaching net zero, amplifying our impact.”

ADI is proud to contribute to research that will combat climate change in a responsible manner. Furthermore, ADI continually aspires to bring innovative and sustainable solutions for interdependently local and global challenges in ways that promote social and environmental sustainability and fair and ethical corporate governance.

This partnership brings many new possibilities to the AI scene in the Philippines and the APAC region. It also aims to pave the way for other sectors and institutions to follow in adopting AI systems to transform businesses and advance communities by delivering sustainability outcomes.

(The article was originally published on Journal Online.)