Combatting forest fires with AI in Pakistan

This report by the GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) explores barriers to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) for forest fire management in Pakistan, a country that ranks 5^th in the climate risk index globally. It also proposes a clear roadmap to action to deploy an AI-enabled forest fire management system. 

Like with other low- and middle-income countries, Pakistan faces challenges in obtaining the quantity and quality of data necessary for an AI system to succeed. Access to sustainable finance, insufficient institutional capacity and limited stakeholder coordination are also barriers to adoption. 

Key recommendations in the report include:

• taking an incremental, multi-stage approach to AI adoption for disaster risk reduction to ensure sustainability;
• starting with identifying a clear project owner;
• utilising open data for algorithm development, then deploying technology in the field for model improvement;
• embedding the new system into standard operating procedures in disaster management.