Dell Technologies Deep Learning helps volunteers to protect the Great Barrier Reef

On top of a slew of sustainable initiatives across their entire product range of laptops, desktops and other solutions, Dell Technologies is doing their part for the planet too. They’re leveraging their mastery of high performance computing to help save the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. 

In line with Dell Technologies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, they’re teaming up with Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, an Australia-based conservation organisation and sharing the use of a powerful Dell Technologies Deep Learning model to speed up and enhance processing of the health status of the reef itself to gain a better understanding of overall efforts in conservation. 

The power and speed of the Dell Technologies Deep Learning model will allow scientists to analyse recon photos of the reef in just a minute per photo versus the usual seven or eight minutes in prior census efforts. All these time savings add up and what previously took 1,516 hours to review 13,000 images in the inaugural Great Reef Census (GRC) now only takes less than 200 hours.

Amit Midha, President, APJ and Global Digital Cities, Dell Technologies, said, “Dell Technologies collaborates with like-minded organisations on ground to enable climate-positive societal impact. With the Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, our support for research using technology has come a long way since the first Great Reef Census to today, where the power of deep learning will scale the team’s conservation efforts to quick access to quality data and drive a successful collaboration between all involved. We believe such innovations can help our partners make progress on their sustainability ambitions and conservation efforts like these can be replicated both in APJ and globally.”

What is Dell Technologies Deep Learning

In general, the Dell Technologies Deep Learning model combines a host of Dell’s best computing solutions to process and complete the GRC in a much swifter fashion. On the front line where the Great Barrier Reefs are located, volunteers will use a Dell edge solution that is deployed on ships that in turn uploads captured images of the reef to an online deep learning module.

Once uploaded, the Dell Technologies Deep Learning model uses a Dell high performance computing (HPC) graphics processing unit accelerated system to train the model, a Dell PowerScale system to store the data with Dell PowerEdge servers supporting an AI training cluster, and multiple AI inference engines. Combined, the system will collect and analyse 42,000 images across 315 reefs along the 2,300km length of the Great Barrier Reef. For more insights on Dell Technologies’ sustainability initiatives, check out their official site here.