Guyanese team wins first-ever Webby Hackathon award ahead of over 150 countries
Updated: May 18, 2022
A four-man Guyanese team pitched their award-winning solution to tackle illegal logging and deforestation, leading them to win the 5G for Change Hackathon ahead of over 150 countries.
The four Guyanese, under the name “Team Frame Perfect” developed an Artificial Intelligence Sound Monitoring Device programme to tackle the issue of illegal logging in Guyana.
Their idea was adjudged best from teams in over 150 countries, which led them to present their idea as finalists in the prestigious first-ever 5G for Change Hackathon.
It was here they won first-place out of the top-finalists from around the world with their plan to tackle deforestation.
They were announced winners at the 26th Annual Webby Awards on the evening of Monday May 17 in New York City.
The Guyanese have now won a Webby Award – akin to an Academy Award for technology innovations, and USD$50,000.
Over 80% of Guyana’s land area comprises forests. However, illegal logging is impacting Guyana’s forests and is responsible for 30% of co2 carbon emissions that come from clearing, according to Team Frame Perfect.
The foundation of their award-winning idea uses sound monitoring devices and drones to mitigate illegal logging and the ease with which individuals can “easily bypass government regulations through bribery.”
Speaking exclusively to MTV News Update just last month, Shomari Williams explained that he and his team members (brother Malik Williams, Andrew Garnett, and Jun Leung) came together at the University of Guyana with the idea.
Shomari Williams is currently pursuing a Masters in Global Technology and Development, while working full time.
Malik Williams is an Information Communication Technology Engineer, and has worked with the Lands and Survey Commission of Guyana.
Andrew Garnett is a huge proponent of information communication technology for development, and recently presented a project to modernise X-ray analysis in hospitals.
Jun Leung comes from one of Guyana’s hinterlands regions, and is passionate about the issue of deforestation.
Notably, Team Frame Perfect has also founded Unity GY, a non-profit organization that leverages technology to narrow the education gap in Guyana.
Their plan is to create a comprehensive monitoring system which streams audio to dispatch drones monitoring Guyana’s forest. These will be connected to an AI-powered listening device and inform drone devices when logging activity is taking place.
This can in turn be programmed to inform rangers of when logging that hasn’t been approved is taking place.
The FramePerfect team plans to use 5G and its latency to deploy drones, and stay in constant communication with rangers.
You can reach out to the team directly about their idea on: contact@frameperfectgy.com
(Info from webbyaward.com)
We tend to find all of Guyana’s many faults and shortcomings to highlight them. However, we don’t seem to highlight the good things with as much alacrity as the problems.
So, when we find occasion for celebration of Guyana and Guyanese prowess in a field of endeavor, we should highlight it with as much fervor as we highlight her faults and shortcomings!
So, here we go again! I posted this couple months ago, but it deserves highlighting again! I like to see folks providing SOLUTIONS to our problems! Let’s endeavor to find solutions for the problems we discover in Guyana!
This is MAJOR! Guyana beat 150 countries to place FIRST! That is a massive achievement. I truly hope these young…
Congratulations!
This is an amazing effort and accomplishment by these young Guyanese! How great to be recognized by an international panel and awarded the Webby! I hope they continue to research and bring attention to the deforestation on our forests. We only have to look next door to Brazil to see the devastating effects of illegal logging. Please keep up your good work. Dave Rohee. www.daveroheeauthor.com