Augmented Intelligence for Disaster Response: Beeline Kazakhstan Mobilises AI to Fight Forest Fires
Amsterdam and Almaty, 6 February 2024: VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services, today announced that its subsidiary Beeline Kazakhstan has deployed Orman-AI - an artificial intelligence-based monitoring system to detect forest fires.
Both naturally and due to climate change, Kazakhstan is prone to devastating blazes, that spread fast across vast areas, are impossible to stop once started and take the lives of both humans and animals every year. Orman-AI reports the outbreak of fires by automatically detecting the first signs of smoke and enables rapid action to stop the proliferation of forest fires. It combines Beeline’s towers as monitoring platforms, video surveillance systems with 360 degree computer vision, and Beeline’s mobile connectivity, uploading data real time into an AI analytics engine capable of detecting smoke appearances.
The system works in weather from -50 to +50 degrees Celsius, which is especially important in the extreme continental climate of the country.
In an era of rapid climate change, forest fires are an increasingly common problem and caused damage to 103 thousand hectares of land in Kazakhstan in 2022 alone, nearly 40% the land area of Luxembourg. If detected too late, they are hard to extinguish and pose a serious threat to rural communities.
“Detection of fires through augmented intelligence is a pragmatic approach, and this could be extended to agricultural and other community applications,” comments Evgeniy Nastradin, the CEO of Beeline Kazakhstan. “This initiative shows Beeline and VEON's commitment to the country, using cutting edge technology to create solutions to real problems, including safeguarding the population against natural disasters,” he adds.
Orman-AI has been launched through a partnership between Beeline Kazakhstan and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management of the Akimat of the Kostanay Region. During the first test period, some 34 cameras managed to generate alerts for 50 fires in the region. In the future, the system could also be deployed to assist farmers and improve agricultural yields by using AI to determine when crops require watering or fertilizer, and to keep track of livestock.
This is yet another major AI-based solution from Beeline Kazakhstan. Last year, Beeline’s information technologies subsidiary QazCode launched BeeBert AI module, training AI in Kazakh language for customer experience applications.
About VEON
VEON is a digital operator that provides converged connectivity and digital services to nearly 160 million customers. Operating across six countries that are home to more than 7% of the world’s population, VEON is transforming lives through technology-driven services that empower individuals and drive economic growth. Headquartered in Amsterdam, VEON is listed on NASDAQ and Euronext.
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