- IBM will support projects that can help improve access to safe drinking water for all, improve water quality by reducing pollution, increase water use efficiency, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, enhance sanitation management, and reduce the number of people suffering from lack of water.
- A RFP (request for proposal) this year will have representatives from Water. org and the United Nations Development Program as part of the selection process.
São Paulo, March 14, 2023 – IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it is accepting proposals for upcoming IBM Sustainability Accelerator projects, which will focus on water management solutions. The program applies IBM technologies, such as hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence, and an ecosystem of experts to leverage projects focused on populations vulnerable to environmental threats.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 2 billion people live in water-scarce countries. In fact, in Latin America, around 150 million people already live in areas with this problem, which corresponds to 23% of the population, according to the World Bank. According to forecasts, this challenge is expected to worsen in some regions as a result of climate change and population growth. Brazil, for example, has already lost 15.7% of its water surface in the last 30 years, according to data from MapBiomas.
In alignment with the 6th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the United Nations, IBM will seek to support projects that help improve equitable access to safe and clean drinking water for all, improve water quality by reducing pollution, increase efficiency of use of water in all sectors, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, increase sanitation management and reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity, among other purposes.
The RFP process will include input from IBM across disciplines and representatives from organizations such as Water. org and the United Nations Development Program. Selection criteria will consider the candidate’s ability and availability to support communities that are especially vulnerable to water-related threats, technical feasibility, sustainability of the envisaged solution, as well as transparency in measurement and reporting, among others.
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“Technology and talent are key to improving water management and benefiting the most vulnerable communities,” said Flávia Freitas, director of Corporate Social Responsibility at IBM for Latin America. “Through these projects, we want to continue to work with organizations on their technology initiatives to help communities overcome their water-related challenges.”
This year’s RFP project selection will also include input from Ben Mandell, Public Services Specialist at Water.org, and Mary M. Matthews, Head of the Ocean Innovation Challenge and Acting Head of UNDP’s Water and Ocean Governance Program, along with other allied specialists. They will share their input and experience throughout the process.
“Innovation in the water management space is critical to meeting UN SDG 6,” said Mandell, one of the water cohort selection judges. “The organization’s initiatives selected to participate in the IBM Sustainability Accelerator will have a significant opportunity to make an impact with the help of IBM’s technology, expertise and network in its large ecosystem of partners.”
Non-profit and government actions focused on water management can apply to the RFP from March 14 through the end of May 2023. Selected participants will be announced in November of this year.
Sobre o IBM Sustainability Accelerator
Launched in February 2022, the IBM Sustainability Accelerator is a social impact program that addresses multiple environmental threats around the world each year. The Accelerator selects 5 projects to scale solutions that benefit communities facing challenges such as climate change, pollution, extreme weather and more. The program currently has two active cohorts; the first focused on sustainable agriculture and the second on clean energy.
In the region, as part of the IBM Sustainability Accelerator, the Plan 21 Foundation for Sustainable Human Development is helping smallholder farmers in Latin America manage their crops more sustainably, with the aim of increasing their productivity and income, helping to create the consumer awareness and developing more responsible markets.
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