At the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), IBM and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) unveiled groundbreaking AI-powered tools aimed at supporting sustainable urban development and meeting energy needs in developing regions.
These innovative solutions, developed through IBM’s pro-bono Sustainability Accelerator program, provide open-source models to inform critical decisions for city planning and infrastructure development, with a focus on Africa and India.
The partnership has yielded two key AI solutions, Open Building Insights (OBI) and Modeling Urban Growth (MUG), designed to help policymakers, urban planners, and energy strategists map current infrastructure and predict future growth. This toolkit enables targeted planning for urban expansion, helping underserved regions secure energy and infrastructure more effectively.
The Open Building Insights (OBI) platform is an interactive tool running on IBM Cloud, designed to map and assess building infrastructure. Developed in collaboration with SEforALL, OBI utilizes advanced AI models to categorize buildings by their function—residential or non-residential—using data such as building height, footprint, roof imagery, and energy consumption. This data enables planners to evaluate the energy needs of specific areas and make informed decisions about urban development and energy access.
Kenya is already benefiting from OBI’s insights; Makueni County, for instance, has leveraged data from the platform to implement energy measures expected to benefit approximately 1.1 million residents by 2030. OBI’s coverage includes all of Kenya and Maharashtra in India, making the platform an invaluable tool for countries with pressing infrastructure challenges.
Modeling Urban Growth (MUG) is an open-source AI model that forecasts urban expansion using historical satellite images, geographic factors, demographics, and structural data such as road layouts.
This model, publicly available on GitHub, assists decision-makers in identifying high-priority areas for infrastructure investment and electrification, especially in regions lacking basic services.
By mapping urban growth trajectories, the MUG model allows governments and NGOs to focus resources where they are needed most, especially in rapidly urbanizing areas in Africa and South Asia.
This initiative is part of IBM’s Sustainability Accelerator, launched in 2022 to leverage AI for environmental and social impact. The Accelerator supports projects across agriculture, clean energy, and water management to address pressing global challenges. IBM has committed to expanding OBI in India and will explore integrating the MUG model into the platform, further strengthening its utility for global sustainable development.
“At IBM, we’re proud to create solutions that harness AI for meaningful global impact,” said John Matogo, IBM’s Corporate Social Responsibility Leader for Africa & the Middle East. “Collaborating with SEforALL through our Accelerator program enables us to bring innovation to communities, addressing key challenges around energy and urban planning.”
Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO of SEforALL and UN Energy Co-Chair, emphasized the impact of AI in addressing energy access issues. “Integrating AI into energy sector planning—especially in developing countries—will address data gaps and enhance interventions in the energy transition, benefiting those most in need.”
IBM’s Sustainability Accelerator provides pro-bono support to projects that address critical environmental issues facing vulnerable communities. SEforALL, an initiative dedicated to universal energy access, collaborates with partners like IBM to drive solutions in the Global South, empowering communities with sustainable development tools and resources.