Azure Updates: Orbital data; Mural; Cognitive Speech Services; AI

Matt Jennings, Microsoft VP of Global Customer Success, identified the growing role of orbital data for agriculture. Together with high-performance computing, orbital data is helping to improve planning and offer weather insights. World Bank data suggests that food production needs to grow 70 percent in coming decades to keep up with population growth, particularly for cities like Lagos that may have as many as 88 million people by the end of the century. Microsoft is working with partners like Tomorrow.io to provide highly localized weather models.

Jason Morris, global partner technology strategist at Microsoft, discussed ways for businesses to get to market faster. Microsoft is working closely with Mural, a collaborative intelligence company, to support dynamic meetings in Teams and connect with Azure DevOps. The collaboration is part of a broader initiative to reduce inefficiency with agile methodologies for meetings.