The CSIR Cmore team took second place at this year’s Rhino Conservation Awards in the Best Science Research and Technology category. The team was recognised for their outstanding work on the development of Cmore – a platform for shared awareness developed in partnership with Armscor.

The platform exchanges information with a diverse set of services and sensors, such as detection systems and various other entity tracking systems. In addition to consolidating information from various sources, Cmore also allows for the secure distribution of information with the ability to share and collaborate with users from anywhere in the world. Cmore has been instrumental in promoting cohesiveness between various counter-poaching forces.

The Rhino Conservation Awards was founded in 2012 by chairman and chief executive officer of the Swedish camera manufacturer, Hasselblad, Dr Larry Hansen and Xiaoyang Yu, a founding partner of China New Enterprise Investment - a China-focused growth capital fund. Patron of the awards, Prince Albert II of Monaco, as well as the South African Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, attended the prestigious ceremony.

The CSIR was commended for its contributions in the establishment of the command centre situated in the Kruger National Park that serves as the nerve centre where surveillance reports, poaching event data and other information are collated, shared and analysed.

Dr Hansen congratulated all the winners by saying, “It may be but a small token of our appreciation, but know that your actions do not go unnoticed, your support is making a difference and we are with you in this war, every step of the way.”