TELEFÓNICA AND FIEB UNITE IN PIONEERING PROJECT TO APPLY INTERNET OF THINGS TECHNOLOGY TO BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH
- The “Fundación para la Investigación en Etología y Biodiversidad” (Research Foundation for Biodiversity and Ethology) will begin using Telefónica Internet of Things (IoT) technologies across various FIEB projects in the management and central control of animal facilities.
- The partnership is set to extend beyond IoT and lay the foundations for developing more sophisticated applications designed to resolve specific problems found in each of the foundation’s research projects.
Madrid, 24 June 2015 – Telefónica Global Director of Sponsorship and Institutional Relations, José María Sanz-Magallón, and Alejandro Fernández Riba, President of the ‘Fundación para la Investigación en Etología y Biodiversidad’ (FIEB), have signed an agreement to develop the capabilities of the Internet of Things (IoT) for Spain’s wildlife protection and to ensure animal welfare of creatures kept in FIEB facilities just outside Madrid.
Thanks to this alliance, FIEB will be able to deploy the most advanced machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies to monitor and analyse animal behaviour. An extensive network of high-quality surveillance cameras and the installation of numerous sophisticated environmental sensors will continuously provide FIEB experts and other researchers with data relating to the living conditions, temperature, humidity, sounds etc., as well as enable observation of both physical conditions, typical behaviour and daily habits of all the animals that live in their enclosures.
These systems, as well as ensuring that the animals are kept in ideal living conditions, also keep direct human/animal contact to a minimum, a very important factor for certain species, especially if the ultimate aim is to release them in their natural environment.
José María Sanz-Magallón stressed the importance of this partnership agreement highlighting the inclusion of technology in conservation work, such as animal protection or historical heritage: “the technologies from the Internet of Things, that Telefónica is working, are proving vital in helping government bodies and NGOs better monitor all kinds of goods, natural and man-made, that are socially, historically and environmentally significant. In this regard, Telefónica is pleased to collaborate with organisations such as FIEB on making their work easier and more efficient through the use of modern technology as they carry out the important task of preserving the ecosystem in which we live”.
Alejandro Fernández, President of FIEB says: “At FIEB we believe that new technologies are one of the greatest allies in the search for research excellence in ethology and biodiversity protection. Therefore, at FIEB we want 2015 to be the year in which we start to deploy the newest technology and make it available to researchers and conservationists. This goal is made possible, thanks to the agreement reached with Telefónica, widely regarded as one of the most important telecommunication companies in the world, and the European leader in M2M systems – making it the best possible partner to bring our projects to life”.
