KUCHING – A proposal on combating climate change by Dr Loke Kar Seng of Swinburne Sarawak’s Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science was among the 12 winning proposals of the Big Ideas Competition for Climate Change, a competition that brings together data and climate enthusiasts to promote collaborative data-driven ideas for climate change monitoring.
Loke’s proposal entitled ‘IGNITE: IncentivizinG carboN footprinT rEduction’ seeks to utilise state-of-the-art technologies such as machine learning, quorum sensing and blockchain technology to combat climate change by reducing personal carbon footprint. He won the prize under the ‘Country Prizes’ category alongside winners from Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Republic of Korea and Vietnam.
IGNITE is an innovative mobile app that automatically tracks and rewards each user’s activities such as riding public transport, cycling or car sharing. The app is able to calculate the nominal value of carbon reduced and this is shared on the blockchain tamper-proof. It can also be used to detect the number of people in a room and adjust the room temperature where possible.
For companies that promote sustainable activities, it can use the app to further incentivize users by providing rewards such as public transport discounts. In summary, IGNITE is innovative, simple, low cost and can be used by anyone.
The competition was jointly organised by National Information Society Agency (NIA), Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT), the United Nations Development in Asia and the Pacific, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of the Republic of Korea, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and Pulse Lab Jakarta (PLJ), with support from the Government of Australia.
Themed ‘Combating Climate Change’ and aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #13 (Climate Action), the competition received 160 proposals from applicants throughout ASEAN Member States, Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea.
The competition was judged by a five-member panel from different organisations and having professional affiliations with the World Resources Institute (Indonesia), United Nations Development Programme (Indonesia), United Nations Development Programme (Asia and the Pacific), Pulse Lab Jakarta, and Hanyang University (Republic of Korea).
Each proposal submitted first had to be evaluated by a committee of experts with diverse backgrounds in climate change, disaster response, innovation and related fields. The proposals selected to advance to the second round were chosen based on the quality of the idea, the importance of the issue addressed, use of more than one source of data, as well as the ability to be implemented.
The 12 teams chosen to the next round were then required to present their proposals during a webinar and field questions from the judges about various aspects of the proposals such as novelty, feasibility, relevance to the region, innovative approach and others.
For more information about Swinburne Sarawak, visit the university’s website (www.swinburne.edu.my), Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).