Overview
The IndigoWaters Institute in Taiwan hosted the MDImageNet International Collaboration Forum virtually on August 12, 2025. Organized under the Indo-Pacific Regional Marine Debris Governance International Collaboration Platform initiative, the forum reflected the Institute’s strong commitment to fostering global partnerships in addressing marine debris. As a key part of the MDImageNet project, the event focused on leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the identification and analysis of marine debris.
The forum aimed to showcase global innovations in AI-powered marine debris identification and monitoring, facilitate knowledge exchange through the sharing of best practices, methodologies, and challenges in applying AI and citizen science to marine debris governance, and promote future collaboration while gathering expert insights. Serving as a critical step toward establishing Taiwan as a hub for AI-driven marine debris research, the forum also laid the groundwork for enhanced international data sharing and collaborative initiatives, including the upcoming MDImageNet Image Recognition Challenge scheduled for 2026.
GIC’s Role
GIC was invited to speak at the forum to represent our technology, pLitter CCTV, highlighting our contribution to plastic litter monitoring through AI. Mr. Karun Mooksrisai and Mr. Hau Cong Nguyen participated as representatives, presenting the working principles of pLitter CCTV, its database platform, and insights from its application in various environmental projects. The forum also featured discussions on how AI can enhance project outcomes, with opportunities for future collaboration in data sharing and technological development identified.
Apart from GIC, the forum included speakers from five different organizations namely National Academy of Marine Research (NAMR) from Taiwan, Our Sea of East Asia Network (OSEAN) from Republic of Korea, Tangaroa Blue Foundation from Australia, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from the United States of America). The different AI-powered marine debris identification and monitoring presented during the forum were pLitter CCTV (GIC), MDImageNet (NAMR), Ocean Cloud platform (OSEAN), Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database.
