Giving Compass' Take:

• Global Citizen reports on a major collaboration between international organizations and technology companies such as Google to address food crises around the world through tools such as artificial intelligence.

• The tech described in this piece can help gather data and use it to provide more efficient financing, but it's worth looking at how forecasting models could apply to many different aid scenarios.

• Here's why we need innovative ideas: World hunger is on the rise for the third year in a row.


The United Nations, the World Bank and the International Committee of the Red Cross are partnering with technology powerhouses to launch a global initiative aimed at preventing famines.

"The fact that millions of people — many of them children — still suffer from severe malnutrition and famine in the 21st century is a global tragedy," World Bank President Jim Young Kim said announcing the initiative.

The global organization will work with Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services to develop the Famine Action Mechanism (FAM), a system capable of identifying food crisis area that are most likely to turn into a full-blown famine.

"If we can better predict when and where future famines will occur, we can save lives by responding earlier and more effectively," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement.

The tech giants will help develop a set of analytical models that will use the latest tech like Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to not only provide early warnings but also trigger pre-arranged financing for crisis management ...

The global organization will work with Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services to develop the Famine Action Mechanism (FAM), a system capable of identifying food crisis area that are most likely to turn into a full-blown famine.

Read the full article about tech companies fighting famine at Global Citizen.