SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In a step to make
the planet a kinder place, Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native
technology services company, and the Integrated Breeding Platform
(IBP), a pioneer non-profit organization bringing digitization to
the plant breeding world with a focus on developing countries,
announce their collaboration in the development of a new
application for plant breeders. Breeding is the scientific method
whereby plant characteristics can be selected and combined to
generate new generations of those same crops that are superior in
certain aspects to its predecessors in the pedigree tree.
The tool that is being developed by Globant will incorporate
decision-making functionality based on plant pedigree analysis. The
IBP will make this tool available to institutes looking to optimize
their crop improvement programs as a complement to its core product
BMS Pro, a data management software specialized for plant breeders.
The new tool will allow plant breeders to use genetic diversity
indicators to define their breeding strategy, making it a versatile
and flexible addition to the BMS ecosystem.
Since hunger is an urgent global problem, especially when
ecological or economic disturbances arise, solutions to achieve
food security are more important than ever. Plant breeding is one
answer in addressing that challenge in a sustainable way. Plant
scientists are working hard to get crop varieties to farmers that
can produce better yields and nutritional value, and survive
drought and other ecological challenges, with the hope it will also
help farming families improve their household incomes and
livelihoods.
"We are really excited about this project. Not only are we
bringing together biology, genetics, genomics, engineering and
statistics to solve a plant breeding issue, but also because we are
building a tool that will contribute to a positive and long term
impact on a problem faced by humankind," said Kevin Janzen, Managing Director at Globant.
"Working side by side with the IBP is a learning experience for
all of us. It is rewarding to know that what we are doing with them
can impact the lives of those with fewer resources and contribute
to a greater good," adds Gonzalo
Raposo, Globant's Tech Manager in Life Sciences.
The IBP expresses gratitude for Globantʼs generous contribution
of time, expertise and resources. "As a non-profit organization, we
relish the opportunity to be offered access to such resources,"
says Graham McLaren, Global
Deployment Manager for the IBP. "This is a rare opportunity for us
to bring our biological knowledge to the table together with
Globant's skills in analysis and software development, in order to
create a complex application which will serve our mission of
helping scientists reach for food security through crop
improvement." This understanding that the spirit of innovation can
be applied to make the world a better place is a value that
resonates well with both Globantʼs and IBPʼs development
approaches.
This project shows Globantʼs commitment to create products that
can help others as part of its Be Kind initiative, a
sustainability program that aims to transform people's lives and
make the world a better place. This small but important project has
the potential to open doors for Globant to achieve significantly
more impact on livelihoods through bioinformatics. For its part,
the IBP is always looking for investors, donors, and partners to
support its mission; be it in kind, through partnership in joint
initiatives, or in the form of direct funds for its activities in
developing countries and in product development. A meeting of the
minds that could not have arrived at a more fortuitous time.
About Globant
We are a digitally native company where innovation, design and
engineering meet scale. We use the latest technologies in the
digital and cognitive field to transform organizations in every
aspect.
- We are more than 11,800 professionals and we are present in 17
countries working for companies like Google, EA and BBVA among
others.
- We are featured as a business case study at Harvard, MIT and
Stanford.
- We are a member of the Cybersecurity Tech Accord (2019)
For more information, visit www.globant.com
About the Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP)
The Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP) is a not-for-profit
entity with the mission to help breeders accelerate the delivery of
new crop varieties to smallholder farmers, especially in developing
countries. It does so by providing IT tools, crop breeding services
and training, and by accompanying scientists in the digitization
and modernization of their breeding practices. Access to the right
tools and opportunities will help plant breeders achieve more
efficiency in crop improvement, and therefore have a concrete
impact on their local environments and markets in their quest to
help achieve global food security.
www.integratedbreeding.net
For more information:
Lucia Ledesma
PR Manager
Globant
lucia.ledesma@globant.com
Valerie Boire
Communications Manager
Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP)
v.boire@integratedbreeding.net
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SOURCE Globant