The Application Lab for Artificial Intelligence and Big Data (AI Lab) at the German Environment Agency leverages methods of AI and Big Data for environmental and sustainability applications. As an innovation space for the environmental sector, it focuses on the added value of AI for both people and the environment and conducts research on the sustainable use of AI and Big Data applications.
The AI Lab, comprising approximately 30 staff members, utilizes AI and Big Data for environmental and sustainability applications. It serves as an innovation and experimentation space for the four federal agencies operating under the auspices of the Federal Environment and Consumer Protection Ministry (BMUV) to demonstrate the added value of AI for both humanity and the environment, while addressing research questions related to the sustainable and responsible use of AI. The objective is to unlock AI as a key technology not only for industry but also for politics and research, particularly in the fields of environmental and climate protection.
The AI Lab develops applications that support the diverse tasks of the environmental sector—ranging from species protection to radiation protection, from nuclear safety to climate change adaptation and environmental monitoring. Initial implemented examples of AI applications include:
Identifying wind turbines in satellite data to support the planning of the energy transition,
Detecting protected species on online trading platforms, and
Monitoring hazardous materials and mitigating risks through the identification of radioactive nuclides via gamma spectrum analysis.
The external link opens the BMUV website, featuring a movie clip of the opening of the AI Lab in Dessau on October 13, 2023.
Generating Knowledge and Solutions for the Sustainability Decade
In future, the AI Lab will develop specific applications that will improve the diverse work of the environment department – from species protection to radiation protection, from nuclear safety to climate change adaptation and environmental monitoring. Initial examples of the possible application of AI include the identification of wind and photovoltaic plants in satellite data for better planning. Also, illegally traded and protected animal and plant species can be better tracked down in online trading platforms. AI systems can support the water monitoring of the future by analysing large amounts of data from environmental samples.
The AI Lab places particular emphasis on the responsible handling of data and develops solutions for the resource-saving use of AI and Big Data (Responsible & Green AI). In the process, various aspects of sustainable software are in the spotlight, from the most energy-efficient use of hardware to the appropriate and ethical selection of data and algorithms, to usability by third parties in the context of open source.
Our Areas of Activity
Prototyping and consulting
The AI Lab develops applications and supports the entire process from idea to implementation.
Source: Stephan Klingner / AI Lab at UBA
Competence development
The AI Lab offers training on data and AI. Specific formats are developed upon request.
Source: Stephan Klingner / AI Lab at UBA
Networking and collaboration
The AI Lab serves as a central actor for national and international networks related to AI in the environmental sector.
Source: Stephan Klingner / AI Lab at UBA
Organizational development
The AI Lab aims to foster an agile mindset with an interdisciplinary team within the public sector.
Source: Claudius Wehner / AI Lab at UBA
Research
The AI Lab utilizes research findings and conducts its own research for sustainable and ethical AI.
Source: scharfsinn86 / stock.adobe.com
IT Infrastructure
The AI Lab establishes an IT infrastructure for the development of AI applications in the context of public administration.
To identify ideas and requirements for AI- and data-based applications, prepare them for processing by the AI Lab, and prioritize them for prototyping, the inter-agency process of „Use Case Discovery“ has been developed.
As a cyclical process, the Use Case Discovery structures the collaboration between the AI Lab and the specialized divisions of the authorities in the environmental sector. It ensures efficient resource utilization within the AI Lab and provides transparency and comparability among the various use cases.
The AI Lab's process of use case discovery.
The AI Lab's process of use case discovery.
Source: AI Lab at UBA
Current Use Cases
Crawling the internet – for the preservation of biodiversity.
This use case implements an AI-supported analysis tool that facilitates the identification of potentially illegal sales listings for protected species on popular online trading platforms by crawling offers and filtering and analyzing them based on specific criteria.
Source: David Courbit / unsplash.com/de/@jetlag
Object detection – for a successful energy transition.
This use case enables the automatic detection and geographical localization of wind energy and ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) systems across the country using satellite imagery. Additionally, it aims to automatically estimate information regarding system parameters.
Source: Stephan Klingner / AI Lab at UBA
Analyzing gamma spectra – for protection against radioactivity
This use case supports data evaluation for nuclear hazard prevention. Radioactive materials emit gamma radiation, which can be captured in spectra. These spectra are denoised and assigned to elements using AI, making the process faster and more reliable.
Source: AI Lab at UBA
Facilitating citizen communication – for an efficient state.
In this use case, the AI Lab provides consultation and support for the establishment of a responsible chatbot for crisis communication in radiological threat situations. This chatbot is designed to deliver current, safe, and informative responses to citizen inquiries, alleviate the burden on hotlines, and refer individuals to human representatives when necessary.
The use cases require close collaboration and intensive exchange between the AI Lab and the specialized departments of various authorities. The success of a project depends equally on both parties. The specialized departments benefit in various ways from this collaboration, such as through knowledge transfer, support in tendering processes, and the implementation of software. The created added value can thus be best illustrated through the perceptions of the specialized departments.
„Armed with interdisciplinary expertise, the AI Lab is helping us to finally bring a long-anticipated project to fruition.“
Scientific advisor, Federal Office for Radiation Protection
„The AI Lab develops scripts that enable me to better investigate the statistical relationships between air pollutants and meteorological variables. Given the numerous transformation and transport processes between the source of an air pollutant and its impact on people, I am very grateful for the methodological support and advice.“
Technical employee, German Environment Agency
„The valuable insights from the cooperative workshops of the Lab are already actively supporting our internal project development processes, even beyond our joint use cases. We look forward to the upcoming first prototypes and further collaboration.”
Head of department, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)
„Significant time savings! Relevant AI developments for the BfN can rapidly be prototypically developed and tested for usability. This reduces the need for extensive research projects with long durations and initiation phases in the scope of AI topics.“
Digital strategist, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)
Responsible AI
The AI Lab is committed to responsible, values-based software development that takes into account both human and environmental factors, as well as potential interactions. In this context, not only technological feasibility is considered, but also the potential impacts of a development project in regard to socio-ecological aspects. All use cases are analyzed in this respect, with the understanding of ethics as a process rather than a checklist; that is, applicable ethics are integrated into daily work.
Developing responsibly
The AI Lab places particular emphasis on the responsible handling of data and develops solutions for the resource-efficient use of AI and Big Data (Responsible & Green AI). Various aspects of sustainable software development are addressed, including the energy-efficient use of hardware, the careful and ethical selection of data and algorithms, the improvement of energy efficiency in existing AI models, and the usability by third parties in the context of open source.
Source: Paul Skorupskas / unsplash.com/de/@pawelskor
The Political Context
The AI Lab is an initiative within the Digital Policy Agenda for the Environment of the BMUV and is part of the BMUV's 5-Point Program "Artificial Intelligence for Environment and Climate" (German). For this purpose, €26.4 million is available from the federal government's Economic Stimulus and Future Package (2021). Approximately 30 staff members will be employed, initially on a temporary basis until 2025, at the locations of Leipzig, Berlin, and Dessau-Roßlau. The interdisciplinary team includes experts from various fields, such as project management, data science, data engineering, high-performance computing, AI ethics, remote sensing, user experience, and interface design.
The UBA’s motto, For our environment (“Für Mensch und Umwelt”), sums up our mission pretty well, we feel. In this video we give an insight into our work.
The UBA
Contact
Wörlitzer Platz 1 06844 Dessau-Roßlau GermanyPlease contact us exclusively by e-mail: buergerservice [at] uba [dot] de. Unfortunately, we are currently not available by telephone. There may currently be delays in answering enquiries. We ask for your understanding.
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