Apple, UK NGO partner to improve water management in India

Apple, in partnership with United Kingdom-headquartered non-government organization (NGO), Frank Water, said on Friday that it will help develop data and analytics-driven ways to better manage and conserve water. The partnership has been initiated with a pilot project in Bengaluru’s Anekal suburb, where the NGO will collect data to detail water consumption in the area — and help community members take steps to prevent wastage of water and improve efficiency of consumption.

To do this, Apple and Frank Water will use a technique called ‘hydrological modelling’, which uses software simulation to gauge water input, usage and wastage. The tool, according to Apple, will be used to derive outcomes that will be subsequently offered to residents of the area, to prevent unnecessary wastage of water, and improve consumption patterns strategically.

According to the two companies, the project will involve local businesses, organizations and members of the community.

The move comes approximately a year since Apple’s announcement of its mangrove forest conservation project in Maharashtra, in partnership with Pune-based NGO, Applied Environmental Research Organization (AERF). The latter, which was extended an undisclosed sum in the form of a grant by Apple, works in the estuaries of Maharashtra to help devise ways to better conserve the carbon-absorbing mangrove forests of the region.

Apple, along with a host of fellow big tech firms, have stepped up community initiatives in the country over the past one year. On July 13 last year, Google, as part of its Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Program, announced the opening of call centres in partnership with Nasscom Foundation in order to enhance digital skills-driven empowerment for women, starting in seven districts at the time.

On December 1 last year, Amazon announced a partnership with Hyderabad-headquartered Macquarie GIG subsidiary, Vibrant Energy, to set-up the first two of its wind-solar hybrid green energy plants. The latter would be the first of its kind for Amazon globally, and are expected to add over 1.1GW of renewable energy to the company’s data center capacities, once they become operational.

On February 24, Microsoft, along with public-sector State Bank’s corporate social responsibility division, SBI Foundation, and American Indian Foundation, announced plans to expand Project ‘Sameip’ — in order to help persons with disabilities to develop career pathways.