The B-Cubed hackathon takes place over 4 days and brings together computer scientists, researchers and practitioners who are passionate about using biodiversity data to find effective solutions for using this data. The aim is to standardise biodiversity data in order to facilitate its use and accessibility. The main idea is to experiment with data cubes and channel participants' creativity towards innovative solutions for a variety of biodiversity-related challenges.

Maxime Ryckewaert, a member of UMR TETIS, and his two colleagues, Théo Larcher and César Leblanc, had the opportunity to take part in the latest B-Cubed hackathon in Brussels. It was a unique opportunity for them to collaborate and bring together their respective research missions, stemming from three separate European projects (B-CUBED, GUARDEN, MAMBO), around a common subject.

The project "Irokube: Critical habitat mapping and modelling enhanced by data cubes", which they presented, explores the use of biodiversity data cubes, combining them with other data cubes (satellites, bioclimatic variables, etc.), to identify critical habitats. This identification is done using species distribution models based on deep learning (Deep-SDM) and habitat modelling (HDM). To illustrate their approach, the three researchers used floristic data from Belgium.

Their case study demonstrated the potential benefits of using data cubes to support public policy in identifying or monitoring critical habitats. It won the Modelling and Monitoring prize.