AI2Peat lead Dr Corrado Grappiolo tells SiliconRepublic.com that he wants government agencies to use their data for effective policymaking. An AI-powered peatland monitoring platform and an EV battery innovation project are the first to receive prize funding under the Research Ireland National Challenge Fund, sharing a grant of €2.5m. The €65m challenge was launched in 2022 with the aim of driving innovation in green transition and digital transformation. Funding for the challenge is divided into sections, and began with 96 teams that received €50,000 each for their initial concepts. Speaking to SiliconRepublic.com, Grappiolo said that the next step is to scale up the AI2Peat project.