Tēnaka partners with Orange Business to scale its coral reef restoration program

• Technology solution to automate and scale coral reef and marine biodiversity monitoring
• Tēnaka to benefit remotely from near real-time data from the coral reef, allowing scientists to spend more time regenerating reefs

Orange Business and Tēnaka, a social business that works to restore and protect marine ecosystems worldwide, have partnered to scale the coral reef restoration in a Marine Protected Area of the Coral Triangle in Malaysia.

Tēnaka’s coral reef restoration helps protect and preserve critically important and endangered wildlife while supporting the economic independence of coastal communities in terms of food security and employment linked to tourism and fisheries.

Through this partnership, Orange Business is accelerating Tēnaka’s digital transformation, making its day-to-day operations more efficient. Orange Business provides access to fully automated data sets, from collection to visualization, leveraging AI-based data analysis.

This near real-time data-driven approach enhances the capabilities of Tēnaka’s operations. Data and images are delivered directly to scientists ashore, which means researchers will be able to access 24/7 data and spend more time restoring degrading coral reefs.

Scientific monitoring of the coral reef

The project orchestrated by Orange Business is enabled by a Yucca lab marine research station composed of an underwater monitoring device with waterproof 360° cameras attached to a solar-powered floating buoy with processing and transmission capabilities.

The research station connects to the local 4G mobile network with an Orange Business SIM card. This connection transfers images daily to a Microsoft Azure tenant managed by Orange Business. The data transfer is secured by Orange Cyberdefense using Netskope SSE technology and NewEdge infrastructure.

Once in the cloud, an AI algorithm developed by Orange Business analyzes the images. This algorithm automatically recognizes and quantifies various species of fish, invertebrates, and megafauna in the reefs.

Orange Business leverages its partner ecosystem in this project: Netskope’s For Good program is providing the security platform and design, while Microsoft provides free of charge Azure credits as part of its Startups Founders Hub program.

“Regenerating the ocean is the best solution we have to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crisis. By leveraging technology, Orange Business brings critical expertise for us to scale our operations and reach a global impact,” explained Anne-Sophie Roux, Founder of Tēnaka.

“We wanted to be part of the solution for an environmental challenge. Our employees worldwide support Tēnaka for its inspiring initiative in preserving and rehabilitating coral ecosystems – and one where our technology and digital services can really make a difference to create a positive impact,” commented Kristof Symons, CEO International, Orange Business.

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