IBM technology will power AI-driven solutions designed to modernize supply chains by reducing costs and expanding access to sustainable infrastructure.

By IBM Corporation

Launched in 2022, the IBM Impact Accelerator is a social innovation program that offers grants of IBM resources, including hybrid cloud, AI technology, and an ecosystem of experts, to enhance and scale nonprofit and government organization initiatives, accelerating economic impact. Each year, the program selects five new projects to join a cohort focused on issues such as sustainable agriculture, water management and resilient cities.

The 2025 cohort will use IBM solutions to help build smarter supply chains and strengthen digital infrastructure for long-term resilience and sustainability.

• Al-Baha University, a public nonprofit university in Saudi Arabia, will work with IBM to develop and pilot CH‑MARL (Constrained Hierarchical Multi‑Agent Reinforcement Learning) as an AI framework that helps to coordinate fleet management operations, such as cargo trucks and port equipment, in near real time. The pilot will use IBM watsonx.ai and IBM Cloud and planned integrations with IBM Maximo and IBM Sustainability Software. CH-MARL's pilot deployment outcome will be to allow users to move seamlessly between simulations and live operations to help cut idle times and fuel use, while simultaneously helping to reduce emissions and improve air quality across major logistics hubs in Saudi Arabia (in support of global climate and air quality goals).
• The NREL Foundation, a U.S. nonprofit that supports the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and others in accelerating modern energy technologies, will collaborate with IBM to launch a next-generation, AI-enabled “data room” known as the Community Associated Knowledge Environment (CAKE). This platform is designed to strengthen resilience across food, energy, and water systems. CAKE will serve as a prototype for AI-driven, data-sharing environments that help policymakers, NGOs, and businesses visualize and act on real-time insights across interconnected supply chains. The NREL Foundation and IBM, with additional collaborators, will integrate cross-domain datasets and shared analytics to address global supply chain risks. Pilot activities will focus on Indonesia with plans to enable scaling across Southeast Asia and the Marshall Islands.
• Polytechnique Montréal, a leading Canadian engineering university whose research group focuses on AI and data-driven tools for sustainable industrial transformation, will work with IBM to develop an AI- and quantum-enabled decision-support tool for Canada’s forest value chain. As a member of the IBM co-founded, community-led Sustainability Quantum Working Group, Polytechnique is working with IVADO Canada, with access to the IBM Quantum System One administered by PINQ², to explore models supporting this sector. The project integrates operational data and machine learning, and explores digital twins and multi-objective optimization, to improve harvest planning, yield forecasting and supply chain decisions while balancing cost, energy use, and emissions.
• The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), a specialized agency of the UN promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development, will work with IBM to develop a digital solution that assesses a country’s readiness for the digital and AI economy. The tool will be designed to evaluate digital public goods and infrastructure, SME digital and AI maturity, and workforce digital skills and capacity for AI-driven innovation. The pilot will start in Brazil and Mexico, with plans to scale across Latin America and beyond. The solution will help identify bottlenecks and guide policy, investment, and skills initiatives, leveraging IBM AI and data tools and IBM SkillsBuild for analysis and upskilling.
• WRI Polsky Center for the Global Energy Transition, delivers pragmatic, scalable, and urgently needed solutions to achieve a clean, abundant, affordable, and reliable energy future. WRI Polsky Energy Center, with IBM, will develop an AI-enabled mapping capability that uses very-high-resolution satellite imagery to detect and classify rooftop and ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The project will begin in India with plans to scale to Kenya and beyond. The outputs will be integrated into Energy Access Explorer, an open-source data platform, to support evidence-based, inclusive energy planning.

Each organization will receive a grant of structured support in two phases. Phase 1 (co-design) uses IBM Garage, IBM’s proven methodology for accelerating digital transformation and delivering meaningful, measurable outcomes. Phase 2 (development and implementation) focuses on building, piloting and measuring impact. Across both phases, projects will use IBM’s AI and data platforms, including watsonx.ai, IBM Cloud, and geospatial tools.

This cohort also benefits from the support of EY and ServiceNow. EY teams will provide capacity-building workshops and coaching, while ServiceNow will offer the opportunity for technical expertise, in-kind grants, and digital transformation support to eligible projects.

In 2024, IBM announced a commitment to make up to $45M in cash and in-kind donations of technology and services over five years for the IBM Impact Accelerator to support populations facing environmental and economic threats around the world. Including the new supply chain modernization cohort, 25 organizations have been supported by the program. To date, IBM Impact Accelerator projects have directly benefited approximately 2.5 million people globally across sustainable agriculture, clean energy, water management and resilient cities projects.