AI for non-profit organisations

Dataikuhas launched its new initiative aimed at putting AI tools and skills behind non-profit causes, called Ikig.ai. The program empowers non-profit organisations to unlock the full potential of AI by providing Dataiku software and data science resources to make a difference.

Friday, 14th June 2019 Posted 5 years ago in by Phil Alsop

The Ocean Cleanup, a non-government environmental engineering organization that uses technology to extract plastic pollution from the oceans, is the inaugural non-profit organisation to partner with Dataiku on the Ikig.ai initiative.

Through their partnership and thanks to Ikig.ai, The Ocean Cleanup uses a free license of the Dataiku platform to maximise the use of their data and help them become more efficient and effective. The Dataiku Data Science Team continues to support the organisation with logistics, image detection (including identifying plastic in drone images and barrier identification), marketing operations and also day-to-day use of the Dataiku platform.

"As an organisation, we feel it's our responsibility to give back to our community, and we encourage our employees to become involved in projects they're passionate about," said Marc Batty, co-founder and Head of Ikig.ai at Dataiku. We have a special talent at Dataiku and the chance to use our ability to democratise data to change the world. We're going to take it. We are proud of our first success supporting The Ocean Cleanup - using data for good."

The word Ikigai (生き甲斐,) is a Japanese term for 'a reason for being.' Ikigai usually refers to 'the source of value in one's life' or 'the things that make one's life worthwhile. The purpose of Ikig.ai is to encourage data science to be used for good. Acceptance into the program includes support by way of:

Non-Profit Licenses: Non-profit organisations can request a donation of a license for Dataiku, the centralized, collaborative data platform to democratise data use.
Data Science Skills: Dataiku is helping non-profit organisations achieve their goals and accelerate their missions by providing the services of world-class data scientists and analysts.
Dataiku Volunteering: Every Dataiku employee is encouraged to volunteer and give back to their community and causes they are passionate about.