BOSTON, August 19, 2024 - The Institute for Health Modeling and Climate Solutions (IMACS) has received an award from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, in support of its pioneering work in AI-based disease prediction technology to increase the climate resilience of Indonesia’s health system. The award will allow IMACS to help Indonesia expand its innovative malaria prediction and planning model into a sophisticated, multi-disease forecasting tool, seamlessly integrating with the country’s digital health platform. A successfully integrated prediction and planning tool in Indonesia could serve as a model for other countries vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Climate change exacerbates public health challenges, and over 50% of infectious diseases are considered climate-sensitive. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and changing humidity complicate effective control of climate-sensitive infectious diseases (CSIDs) by expanding their geographical distribution and increasing the uncertainties of outbreaks.
Launched in 2022 under the Forecasting Healthy Futures (FHF) initiative with startup funding from Reaching The Last Mile, IMACS helps vulnerable countries develop and integrate sophisticated early warning and response systems (EWARS), to address the growing threat of CSIDs such as malaria and dengue, using a broad array of meteorologic and earth observation data and the power of AI and cloud computing. IMACS’ work in Indonesia is conducted in partnership with KORIKA (Indonesian Collaborative Research and Industrial Innovation in AI) and the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence based in Abu Dhabi. The ClimateSmart Indonesia initiative has already made tremendous progress in advancing an autonomous intelligent system (digital twin) and orchestrating multisectoral cooperation.
With the generous support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, IMACS aims to introduce two critical innovations in its groundbreaking prediction technology, in close partnership with the Indonesian Ministry of Health:
- Integrating “edge” technologies that will use decentralized computing to operationalize predictive modeling on a distributed climate-health data architecture in Indonesia, delivering decision insights from complex data to policymakers and health system managers at all levels.
- Enhancing its existing predictive technology through the development of advanced AI Transformers, allowing multiple climate-sensitive infectious diseases to be predicted together within the same integrated platform, with high geographic accuracy.
In addition to advancing technology, this initiative will draw upon the expertise of IMACS’ global expert network and Indonesia’s AI, health, and climate experts convened by KORIKA to advance a country-level framework of harmonized and integrated climate health data for multiple diseases, and empowering healthcare professionals and government decision-makers by providing extensive training on the operational aspects of the integrated climate-health data system.
“Thanks to this generous grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, IMACS will automate multi-disease prediction in Indonesia and decentralize its cutting-edge hybrid neural network, setting a new gold standard for integrated climate-health intelligence,” said Dr. Kaushik Sarkar, IMACS Director.” These incremental advances in our predictive system will allow countries like Indonesia to maintain the sovereignty of health data, but apply customized analytics based on user roles and governance responsibilities.”
"With much of the world facing new risks from infectious disease due to climate change, now is the time for visionary transformation to our global health systems by incorporating the promise of predictive health, advanced data, and AI techniques. IMACS’ facilitation of strategic scenario planning, coupled with adaptive response measures, opens new pathways in how we tackle disease outbreaks in the short term - and strengthens our climate and health resiliency for the long term." said Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.
“KORIKA drives Indonesia’s National AI Strategy 2045 through an inclusive ecosystem involving government, industry, academia, media and communities,” said Hammam Riza, President of KORIKA. “By leveraging our nation's expertise in AI, public health, and climate change, and with the support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, our collaboration with IMACS will integrate global best practices in AI to enhance decision-making and tackle the health challenges brought by climate change.”
"BMKG’s historical climate data will enable climate-informed predictive insights of ClimateSmart Indonesia," said Dr. Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan, Deputy for Climatology at the Indonesia’s Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG). "With the integration of new AI tools, we are now poised to take an extraordinary leap forward, transforming our ability to support the provision of climate-informed health information services within a single, unified platform."
“The ClimateSmart Indonesia initiative has made significant progress in integrating malaria and dengue data with meteorological insights, accurately predicting the risk and hotspots of these diseases throughout the country.” said Mr. Setiaji , S.T., M.Si., Chief of the Digital Transformation Office, Ministry of Health, and the President Commissioner of Peruri Digital, Indonesia. “This development of automated multi-disease forecasting embracing advanced AI will mark a pivotal step in enriching our One Health platform– Satu Sehat and empowering the health system with actionable insights to address the climate induced threats.”
About PJMF
The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) is a philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence and data science solutions to create a thriving, equitable, and sustainable future for all. PJMF works in partnership with public, private, and social institutions to drive progress on our most pressing challenges, including digital health, climate change, broad digital access, and data maturity in the social sector.
About IMACS
The institute for Malaria and Climate Solutions (IMACS) is a virtual center of excellence with the mission to help countries accurately anticipate climate-driven changes in malaria transmission and direct their control measures with more precision.
IMACS links experts around the world, advancing the multidisciplinary science of designing increasingly sophisticated early warning systems for malaria prediction. Those systems unlock the potential for precision programming and cost-effective disease elimination; paving the way for successful elimination despite the complexity introduced by climate change.
