Davos Summit celebrates success of Koç Holding's FireAId initiative, an AI-driven project to predict and fight wildfires

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Jan 18, 2023, 06:24 ET

Wildfires are becoming increasingly more frequent and severe all over the world with the climate crisis. Led by Koç Holding in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and guided by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the AI-based FireAId initiative was displayed at the Davos Annual Meeting 2023, where it was hailed as a model for wildfire-risk mitigation.

Koç Holding CEO Levent Çakıroğlu said: "We are willing to work with all interested stakeholders, international organizations, and especially countries, which are vulnerable to wildfire risks. To protect our forests, we will continue to deploy and share Koç Group's AI capabilities for the common good of our world."

ISTANBUL, Jan. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Koç Holding CEO Levent Çakıroğlu is taking part in the Davos Summit hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 16-20, 2023. The summit , which will be the WEF's 53^rd annual meeting of its kind, will see 2,700 leaders from 130 countries gather under the theme of 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World' and will focus on solutions and public-private cooperation to tackle the world's most pressing challenges.

The technology, which was highlighted at this year's Davos Summit, FireAId, is an AI-based initiative developed jointly by Koç Group subsidiary KoçDigital and the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry under the guidance of WEF. It was cited as an exemplary initiative on a global scale, serving as a space for global climate technology leaders in both industry and government to share, learn and accelerate new, sustainable, data-driven AI for wildfire efforts.

In conjunction with FireAId, a detailed report titled The Next Frontier in Fighting Wildfires: FireAId Pilot and Scaling, has been published on the FireAId project to provide further context and information and includes a foreword by Koç Holding CEO Levent Çakıroğlu together with a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's General Director of Forests Bekir Karacabey. A special panel discussion held to provide information about the project at the Davos Summit was moderated by World Economic Forum's Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Kay Firth-Butterfield and was attended by Koç Holding CEO Levent Çakıroğlu.

Levent Çakıroğlu: "FireAId is a non-commercial product. Koç Group is ready to share algorithms and source codes for further improvements through cooperation."

Noting that FireAId made it possible to intervene more rapidly in wildfire outbreaks through the development of a dynamic fire-risk map, Levent Çakıroğlu said: "For this unique effort, more than 400 variables from 14 different datasets were analyzed using a sophisticated AI-based model that now helps public bodies to conduct more precise decision making, saving them precious time. Successful results achieved during the pilot implementation in 2022 have encouraged us to further develop the model, scaling it to different parts of the world in partnership with more stakeholders. On behalf of our country as well as of Koç Group, we're proud that WEF has pointed to FireAId as a worldwide example initiative. We will continue to deploy and share our group's AI capabilities for the common good of our world."

As the FireAId project progresses, Koç Holding have signaled a willingness to work with all interested stakeholders, international organizations, and especially countries, which are vulnerable to wildfire risks. According to Levent Çakıroğlu, Koç Group is ready to share algorithms and source codes for further improvements through cooperation. Underlining that this is a non-commercial product, Çakıroğlu continued: "The FireAId pilot project covered an area of 44,000 square kilometers in Turkey's southern Aegean and western Anatolian regions. After a detailed discussion with the Turkish Forestry General Directorate, we've begun efforts to scale the pilot to cover all regions in Turkey as the next step. In line with this, we are eager to work with data providers and piloting partners all over the world; if we can bring together and orchestrate the technological know-how of the private sector, the experience of the public sector, and the knowledge of the academia and expand international cooperation so as to focus on the common good, we believe that it's possible to come up with long-term, enduring solutions to every problem that requires global coordination."

The original WEF special report is accessible from this link.

About Koç Holding

Koç Holding is Turkey's leading investment holding company and the Koç Group is Turkey's largest industrial and services group in terms of revenues, exports, number of employees, taxes paid and market capitalization on Borsa Istanbul. Being the only Turkish company to be ranked in the Fortune Global 500 List, Koç Holding has leading positions with strong competitive advantages in the energy, automotive, consumer durables and finance industry sectors.

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