Fighting Global Hunger: Globant collaborates with the IBP in digitizing plant breeding

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Apr 29, 2020, 12:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In a step to make the planet a kinder place, Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native technology services company, and the Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP), a pioneer non-profit organization bringing digitization to the plant breeding world with a focus on developing countries, announce their collaboration in the development of a new application for plant breeders. Breeding is the scientific method whereby plant characteristics can be selected and combined to generate new generations of those same crops that are superior in certain aspects to its predecessors in the pedigree tree.

The tool that is being developed by Globant will incorporate decision-making functionality based on plant pedigree analysis. The IBP will make this tool available to institutes looking to optimize their crop improvement programs as a complement to its core product BMS Pro, a data management software specialized for plant breeders. The new tool will allow plant breeders to use genetic diversity indicators to define their breeding strategy, making it a versatile and flexible addition to the BMS ecosystem.

Since hunger is an urgent global problem, especially when ecological or economic disturbances arise, solutions to achieve food security are more important than ever. Plant breeding is one answer in addressing that challenge in a sustainable way. Plant scientists are working hard to get crop varieties to farmers that can produce better yields and nutritional value, and survive drought and other ecological challenges, with the hope it will also help farming families improve their household incomes and livelihoods.

"We are really excited about this project. Not only are we bringing together biology, genetics, genomics, engineering and statistics to solve a plant breeding issue, but also because we are building a tool that will contribute to a positive and long term impact on a problem faced by humankind," said Kevin Janzen, Managing Director at Globant.

"Working side by side with the IBP is a learning experience for all of us. It is rewarding to know that what we are doing with them can impact the lives of those with fewer resources and contribute to a greater good," adds Gonzalo Raposo, Globant's Tech Manager in Life Sciences.

The IBP expresses gratitude for Globantʼs generous contribution of time, expertise and resources. "As a non-profit organization, we relish the opportunity to be offered access to such resources," says Graham McLaren, Global Deployment Manager for the IBP. "This is a rare opportunity for us to bring our biological knowledge to the table together with Globant's skills in analysis and software development, in order to create a complex application which will serve our mission of helping scientists reach for food security through crop improvement." This understanding that the spirit of innovation can be applied to make the world a better place is a value that resonates well with both Globantʼs and IBPʼs development approaches.

This project shows Globantʼs commitment to create products that can help others as part of its Be Kind initiative, a sustainability program that aims to transform people's lives and make the world a better place. This small but important project has the potential to open doors for Globant to achieve significantly more impact on livelihoods through bioinformatics. For its part, the IBP is always looking for investors, donors, and partners to support its mission; be it in kind, through partnership in joint initiatives, or in the form of direct funds for its activities in developing countries and in product development. A meeting of the minds that could not have arrived at a more fortuitous time.

About Globant

We are a digitally native company where innovation, design and engineering meet scale. We use the latest technologies in the digital and cognitive field to transform organizations in every aspect.

We are more than 11,800 professionals and we are present in 17 countries working for companies like Google, EA and BBVA among others.
We are featured as a business case study at Harvard, MIT and Stanford.
We are a member of the Cybersecurity Tech Accord (2019)

For more information, visit www.globant.com

About the Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP)

The Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP) is a not-for-profit entity with the mission to help breeders accelerate the delivery of new crop varieties to smallholder farmers, especially in developing countries. It does so by providing IT tools, crop breeding services and training, and by accompanying scientists in the digitization and modernization of their breeding practices. Access to the right tools and opportunities will help plant breeders achieve more efficiency in crop improvement, and therefore have a concrete impact on their local environments and markets in their quest to help achieve global food security.

www.integratedbreeding.net

For more information:

Lucia Ledesma
PR Manager
Globant
[email protected]

Valerie Boire
Communications Manager
Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP)
[email protected]

SOURCE Globant