MPOC’s Science and Sustainability Engagement Series is a science-based online platform recently launched to update palm oil industry stakeholders on the latest developments in the area of sustainability, environment, health and nutrition. Experts are invited to present on this online platform regularly to enhance awareness and knowledge-building among industry stakeholders.
The fifth in the series, titled “Series 5: Towards Digitalisation of Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil” was held on 28 September 2021. The event featured four presentations from subject matter experts who shared their insights on the current and emerging technologies in the efforts of digitalising the palm oil industry, which is still predominantly labour intensive.
Moderated by Dr. Ruslan Abdullah, Director of Science, Environment and Sustainability Division, MPOC, various topics were covered ranging from consumer perception using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the utilisation of satellite imagery to track land use change:
- “Measuring Sustainable Sourcing through Satellite imagery” by Brittany Zajic, Business Development Manager, Planet
- “Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Technology to Increase Palm Oil Yield and Sustainability in Malaysia” by Pedro Carrillo Donaire, CEO, ec2ce
- “Offsetting & Correcting Public Opinions of Palm Oil & the Palm Industry” by Anupam Singh, Co-founder and President & Jenna Monocello Kerr, Director of Insights and Strategy, 113 Industries
- “Digitalisation towards Palm Oil Sustainability and Resilience” by Jeslyn Wong, F&B Industry Manager, Endress+Hauser (M) Sdn Bhd
The webinar managed to attract a good turnout of 476 online participants. The 2-hour online session concluded a Q&A session with the respective speakers deliberating and providing their comments on the questions raised.
Brittany Zajic, Business Development Manager, Planet
Brittany is a natural disaster research scientist turned businesswoman. She brings 7 years of geospatial industry experience to Planet, working across both public and private sectors, including several years in the Earth Science Division at NASA. Planet is on a mission to use space to help life on Earth. As a member of the business development team, Brittany is responsible for the development of key partnerships and research of new markets that will help us achieve our ambitious goal.
Pedro Carrillo, CEO, ec2ce
20 years of experience in a multinational company, managing business development and trading activities of energy projects in Europe, EMEA and LatAm.
Executive VP in Abengoa Bioenergy Trading from 2006 to 2013, with offices in Netherlands and Spain, managing strategic development, trading, logistics, hedge and credit management for bioenergy business in Europe, including the trading of palm oil for biodiesel production.
Since 2014, CEO and cofounder of ec2ce, an Agtech company specialized in predictive analytics for agrobusiness and commodities.
Graduated from Seville University with a BSc in Physicist, and an E-MBA from IIST. Personal Leadership program by Columbia University, and Strategic Value of Customer Relationships at Wharton University.
Jenna Monocello Kerr, Director of Insights and Strategy, 113 Industries
Jenna is a strategic thought professional who has provided her expertise as lead consultant on more than 50 projects during her time with 113 Industries—where her client partners have ranged from executives at Fortune 500 companies to healthcare providers to advertising agencies. She heads the company’s Insights team and is constantly on the hunt for new technologies to better serve clients.
Her past experience in inventory management and visual merchandising grounds her in each project with the objective of understanding consumer buying behavior from an in-store and online perspective. In all that she does professionally, Jenna is motivated by representing the voice of the consumer through thoughtful and meaningful data collection.
Jeslyn Wong, F&B Industry Manager, Endress+Hauser
Jeslyn Wong is the F&B Industry Manager of Endress+Hauser. She started off her career in the servicing line and believing that right measurement technology at the start of the automation journey is utmost important. Having 17 years of experience in the palm oil industry with her strong technical background in combination with her knowledge in palm oil application helps to drive digitalisation further into this industry.
Anupam Singh – co-Founder and President, 113 Industries, Inc.
Anupam Singh is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in designing, building and delivering innovative solutions and services. Anupam co-founded 113 Industries in 2010 to help Fortune 500 companies develop and market breakthrough products and solutions. 113 Industries combines Artificial intelligence, Machine Learning and Natural
Language Processing technologies to provide Data Driven Insights on consumers at a scale of millions of consumers. Many of the leading companies including Hershey, Clorox, Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, P&G and SC Johnson have used this platform.
Anupam’s career spans working at technology giants including IBM, Lockheed, and HP, as well as multiple successful startups including FORE Systems, FreeMarkets and Landslide.
Anupam also guest lectures on NLP, Data Science at Carnegie Mellon University. In his spare time, Anupam enjoys sports (especially cricket and tennis), travel, sketching and music.