Schneider Electric Pledges Open Access to Proprietary Weather Data to Aid Research on Global Food Production

RUEIL-MALMAISON, France, Dec. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, today announced its intent to provide access to data generated from its WeatherSentry weather intelligence platform as part of the UN's Data for Climate Action campaign. Earlier this week, Schneider Electric announced it has networked more than 4,000 disparate rural area Weather Stations to provide a more holistic view of rural weather patterns across the US; now it is making this data available to the global community.

The announcement comes at a crucial time as world leaders convene at COP21 in Paris to discuss a universal climate agreement. As a leader in weather monitoring and prediction technology, Schneider Electric's proprietary data will be used to provide developing countries with the critical resources needed to develop solutions to assess weather impacts on agriculture and improve crop yield and soil conditions, specifically in rural communities. The company owns and operates a network of more than 4,000 WeatherSentry stations in North America and is exploring new business models to deploy these sensors across the globe.

"Schneider Electric recognizes the importance of big data in mitigating climate change, addressing the needs of farmers around the world, and aiding researchers in their quest for understanding the impact of weather on global food production," said Ron Sznaider, Senior Vice President, Cloud Services, Schneider Electric. "As part of our recent climate commitment pledge in line with the American Business Act on Climate, in which we pledged to invest 10 billion euros over 10 years on R&D innovation in sustainability, we also commit to work with the global research community to cooperate on big data analytics as it relates to agriculture and weather."

Additionally, Schneider Electric is committing to collaborating with global researchers on extreme weather events, using the Schneider Electric platform and capabilities in targeted forecasting for specific sectors and clients' needs. Schneider Electric is joining a coalition of private sector leaders, in a campaign led by the United Nations, focused on sharing data which can be used to develop innovative climate solutions.

"We are pleased that Schneider Electric has decided to support Data for Climate Action in the fight against climate change by sharing anonymized, aggregated data for analysis to prompt climate action," said Robert Kirkpatrick, Director of the United Nations' Global Pulse initiative which is hosting the campaign. "Schneider Electric's pledge will greatly assist our efforts to bridge the technology gap between developed and developing nations by providing open data for the public good."

For more information on Schneider Electric, click here for its WeatherSentry technology and here for its commitments to help fight climate change.

About Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric is the global specialist in energy management and automation. With revenues of €25 billion in FY2014, our 170,000 employees serve customers in over 100 countries, helping them to manage their energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable. From the simplest of switches to complex operational systems, our technology, software and services improve the way our customers manage and automate their operations. Our connected technologies reshape industries, transform cities and enrich lives. At Schneider Electric, we call this Life Is On.

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