2021-22 Laureates

Every year, The Tech for Global Good program celebrates innovators using technology to tackle big problems. In 2022, The Tech for Global Good honors four laureates who use data to support people and the environment.

Blue Sky Analytics

Buzz Solutions

Ushahidi

Wild Me

Blue Sky Analytics

Founded in 2018 (India)
Presented by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

Mission: Driven by purpose to save the planet with environmental data.

What they do: Blue Sky Analytics is a geospatial data intelligence company leading the fight against air pollution, water crisis, and environmental degradation by providing high-resolution, high-frequency, and near-real-time information on key environmental indicators.

The Problem We need more accurate ways of measuring greenhouse gas emissions around the world in real time so we can work together to stop climate change. Discover the Problem
The Innovators Brother and sister Kshitij and Abhilasha combined their different skills to start Blue Sky Analytics. Meet the Innovators
The Solution Blue Sky Analytics is a climate tech startup that analyzes satellite data using AI to provide high-resolution and near-real time datasets on environmental and climate parameters, helping organizations, companies, communities and countries manage their climate risk and obtain net-zero goals. Uncover the Solution
The Impact Blue Sky Analytics provides real-time environmental monitoring that organizations around the world can use to hold each other accountable and reduce emissions. Understand the Impact
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Buzz Solutions

Founded in 2017 (United States/CA)

Presented by Judy and Erica Swanson

Mission: To safeguard and improve the world’s energy infrastructure.

What they do: Buzz Solutions uses artificial Intelligence and predictive analytics to detect faults and anomalies for power utilities in power line inspections. Using its solutions, power utilities save over 50% of cost and time to analyze data making maintenance efforts easier and time-efficient, thus, preventing wildfires, power outages, and other climate change effects on the physical infrastructure of the grid.

The Problem To prevent forest fires caused by electrical equipment, each section of a power grid has to be inspected. Drones and helicopters can fly along power lines to take photographs of the equipment, but analyzing this data manually can take months, and that delay can be the difference between safety and catastrophe. Discover the Problem
The Innovators Kaitlyn and Vik come from very different backgrounds but were both very interested in energy and the environment. They met in a class in college, and partnered together to form Buzz Solutions. Meet the Innovators
The Solution Buzz Solutions uses artificial Intelligence to detect anomalies and damage in power lines, allowing utility companies to quickly address issues and prevent blackouts and forest fires. Uncover the Solution
The Impact Buzz Solutions uses computer vision technology that has helped power utilities save over 50% of cost and time to analyze data. This improves the ease and time efficiency of maintenance efforts, thus helping prevent wildfires, power outages, and other climate change effects on the physical infrastructure of the grid. Understand the Impact
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Ushahidi

Founded 2008 (Kenya)Presented by NetApp

Mission: To help marginalized people raise their voice and those who serve them to listen and respond better.

What they do: The Ushahidi platform helps global clients enact social change by creating projects that survey and hear from their communities, allowing grass roots movements and conversations to take root. Clients collect and manage data from multiple sources, visualize and act upon it, building a conduit between the community and the people who serve them.

The Problem Crowdsourcing helps people get first-hand information quickly, empowering them to share more of what’s happening around them. However, without a way to collect individual posts in real-time, combine them into helpful categories and visualize them in maps and charts, all that data doesn’t provide a clear picture of what’s really happening. Discover the Problem
The Innovator Angela grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, studying information technology as one of the few women in her classes. While in college, there was an important election that people knew had been rigged, and a group of technologists created a platform for people to anonymously send messages about what was happening around them. Angela joined this platform, Ushahidi, as a junior software developer and eventually worked her way up to executive director. Meet the Innovator
The Solution The Ushahidi platform helps global citizens strengthen their communities and enact social change through access to data and technology. Users are empowered to rapidly and purposefully gather, visualize, analyze, respond and act on data and information from multiple sources. Uncover the Solution
The Impact Ushahidi has been used more than 200,000 times in over 160 countries, empowering people to raise their voice and fight for change. Understand the Impact
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Wild Me

Founded in 2008 (United States/OR)

Mission: To use machine learning and artificial intelligence in the fight against species extinction.

What they do: Wild Me’s platform, Wildbook, blends structured wildlife research with artificial intelligence, citizen science, and computer vision to speed population analysis of animal species around the globe and develop new insights to bring an end to extinction.

The Problem Many scientists believe we are in the midst of a sixth extinction event, caused by humans. We have to identify and track endangered species more quickly so we can protect them. Discover the Problem
The Innovator Jason saw his first whale shark while scuba diving in Djibouti, and the next year, he went on another whale shark expedition in Baja, California, where he learned about mark-recapture from a biologist. The idea for Wild Me formed as Jason wondered if there was a way to use photographic data to tag a whale shark. Meet the Innovator
The Solution Wild Me’s technology blends structured wildlife research with artificial intelligence, community input and computer vision to speed population analysis of animal species around the globe and develop new insights to bring an end to extinction, through the contributions of hobbyists and scientists. Uncover the Solution
The Impact Wild Me is currently studying 63 animal species, and there have been more than 6 million photos submitted by wildlife photographers, tourists, scuba divers, and scientists of all ages. In the last 10 years, their research was able to get whale sharks listed as endangered on the IUCN red list. Understand the Impact
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