Accenture Announces U.S. Innovation Challenge Winner | Accenture Newsroom

Accenture Announces U.S. Innovation Challenge Winner
University of Virginia team wins with an ingenious job to combat plastic pollution in waterways
ARLINGTON, Va.; July 29, 2020– A team of undergraduate trainees from the University of Virginia has actually won this year’s U.S. Accenture Innovation Obstacle and will offer consulting support to the Waterkeeper Alliance, the largest and fastest-growing nonprofit solely committed to clean water. The winning group was picked following numerous rounds of competition involving 1,193 trainees from 63 undergraduate campuses and variety partner programs across the United States.
The University of Virginia team’s winning proposal involves the development of an image database of plastic pollution of waterways and the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze and arrange image data. The task consisted of the creation of a website to support partnership amongst Waterkeeper volunteers and the production and tracking of community-based efforts consisting of location-specific plastic contamination removal plans.

“This year’s Challenge showcased doing well and doing excellent and responsible service, combining ideas and advanced technology such as AI software application for the typical purpose of making a cleaner and much healthier planet,” said Marty Rodgers, senior managing director of Accenture’s U.S. south region. “This effort aims to accelerate and broaden data-driven, community-led efforts to deal with the enormous and growing problem of plastic contamination. On behalf of Accenture, I am happy to congratulate the winning Cavaliers group, who worked tirelessly in their spare time, through loads of interruption, motivated by the effective mission of Waterkeeper’s Alliance.”
Waterkeeper Alliance is a not-for-profit organization that unites more than 300 Waterkeeper groups around the globe working to protect rivers, lakes and coastal waterways. It serves to reinforce and grow an international network of grassroots leaders working for tidy water throughout 6 continents.
“All the jobs we examined were so outstanding; it was difficult to choose a winner,” said Marc Yaggi, executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “The University of Virginia team wowed us with their ingenious thinking of pollution monitoring. We understand that tidy water saves lives. We’re honored and inspired that Accenture took this chance to direct a few of our finest young minds towards taking on the epidemic of plastic contamination.”
Released in 2012, the Accenture Innovation Obstacle provides university student from across the United States a chance to use ideas and options to support a concern objective of a nonprofit organization. Accenture arranges two such competitions each year, one for college undergraduates and one for trainees in graduate programs.
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About Waterkeeper Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance is a worldwide motion joining more than 300 Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates around the world, focusing resident action on concerns that affect our waterways, from contamination to environment modification. The Waterkeeper motion patrols and safeguards over 2.5 million square miles of rivers, lakes, and shorelines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. For additional information, please see waterkeeper.org.
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