Leveraging data, cloud, and Machine Learning for an engaging urban green project
Executive Summary
Challenge: Media 3.0 needed to develop a user-friendly mobile application to promote environmental engagement and collect data for the first up-to-date city green map.
Approach: We teamed up with Media 3.0 to provide reliable software solutions, scalable cloud architecture and infrastructure, and a Machine Learning model to further enhance the app’s features.
Result: The app is live, allowing users to effortlessly input visual, text, and location data about trees which will be used in the future as input for Machine Learning model to recognise tree species by visual data only.
Services we used:
Table of Contents
About the client
Media 3.0 Foundation is an independent non-governmental organisation working to build a better, data-driven society. The foundation leverages technology to grant access to public data, enhances civic participation, and promotes cooperation between society, local administration, and the government.
Collaboration with a cause
Media 3.0 is now carrying out their project to set up a monitoring system for green areas in Gliwice, Poland. The are finding ways in which local activists and officials could team up to create the first city green map, and get the residents of Gliwice more engaged in environmental matters.
An essential part of the project is the Zielone Gliwice [The Green Gliwice] app – an accessible and engaging tool for collecting and processing data on the location of trees in the urban area.
As the idea received widespread media coverage, it immediately caught the attention of our Data Solutions team. Being a Gliwice-based organisation, we reached out to Media 3.0 to check how we could work together to make our city greener.
It quickly turned out that we were an excellent fit, as the organisation was searching for the like-minded partner with experience, tech knowledge, and capabilities to turn the general vision of the app into a relevant digital solution.
Tech for green
Thanks to our collaboration, Media 3.0 has launched the Zielone Gliwice Android and iOS app. It allows all volunteers to input public data about trees (location, description and images), to create the first up-to-date green city map.
The interface enables all users, regardless of their age or digital proficiency, to use the app smoothly. Media 3.0 can now promote social participation and eco-friendly attitude even among elementary school students and senior citizens alike.
The data collected now will be used for future training of a cloud-based Machine Learning model to recognise tree species based solely on the pictures of leaf, bark, and overall tree shape. As the model learns, the app will soon be able to autonomously identify tree species, further enriching its educational aspects.
Considering that the Media 3.0’s team is full of ideas on how to make the application even more attractive, we wrote the code with the future in mind, allowing the application to be upgraded with additional features, including AR-based gamification.
Reliable partner in positive change
A non-governmental organisation like Media 3.0 has to be sure that the digital tools they own are both reliable and economical to maintain. We secured that by employing Azure cloud-based architecture, infrastructure, database, and the foundations of a Machine Learning model.
Being a long-term Microsoft partner, we guaranteed that all the cloud solutions used in the app are cost-efficient, available, and ready to be scaled up and down, depending on the Media 3.0’s actual needs.
Applications on Android and iOS platforms are derived from the same codebase, which makes them easy to maintain, run future updates, and introduce new functionalities simultaneously in both environments.