Arise is becoming a reality! The first sampling projects are taking off, we've produced the first blueprints for the infrastructure. And a first newsletter, right here.
The Arise architecture is there
Arise is a unique and very ambitious idea: we're going to build a system that can automatically identify all (multicellular) life in The Netherlands. Together with consultancy M&I/Partners, we've now set up an architectural design study that shows how we plan to do it. Since Arise is new and complicated, so are its blueprints: the general overview alone is 40 pages. Find out more in this blog post.
Data Science funding
The University of Amsterdam has a program called Accelerate where faculties can get funding for data science. The IBED received funding for a data scientist in Arise, who will focus on the integration of data derived from different types of sensors, such as cameras and eco-acoustic devices that allow the identification of species through machine-learning tools based on image and sound recognition. Read more about it here.
Sampling has started
The teams of Arise are starting to move. Taking soil samples near the Naturalis building in Leiden to determine sampling strategies (picture by Vincent Merckx here), looking for meiofauna at the beach or collecting radar images in Artis Royal Zoo. We still have about 45,000 species to go!
New program manager
Dr. Elaine van Ommen Kloeke is the new program manager of Arise, replacing Maita Latijnhouwers. She previously worked for Elsevier, where she managed product development programs regarding data science and machine learning based software services; she will do the day-to-day management of Arise. She also excels in the Japanese art of Iaido - a peaceful kind of swordsmanship.
Want to know more?
There is a FAQ here. That's also where you can sign up for this newsletter, so you'll get all the updates on Arise in your mailbox.