What did 9 million scientific publications teach me?
On January 10th 1963, John F. Kennedy wrote in the foreword of a landmark report: “One of the major opportunities … lies in the improvement of our ability to communicate information about current research efforts and the results of [...]
4 challenges that (almost) every digital agriculture project will face
Digital agriculture projects typically put in place software and hardware systems that perceive their environment through appropriate sensor devices, process the right variety and amount of environmental and historical data, and take actions that maximize the chances of successfully achieving [...]
Will small robots (and their AI algorithms) disrupt agriculture?
Last week, I was introduced to an amazing ag-tech startup that is commercialising a deceptively simple idea: small robots not big tractors. The Small Robot Company is building robots that will seed and care for each individual plant in your [...]
“How will agriculture & food production look like in 2027?”
I gave an inspirational speech at the European Commission's Net Futures 2017 conference about the way agriculture and food production will look like in 2027. It was one of the three industry speeches responding to the question "How will three [...]
Talk at the 2016 Summit of the Open Data Institute (ODI)
This is the video of my talk at the at the 2016 Summit of the Open Data Institute (ODI). I presented the Chania declaration and emphasized on seeking ways to catalyze the creation of a global data ecosystem for agriculture [...]
Lessons learned from the Ontario Open Agri-Food Data meetup
As part of the Ontario Open Agri-Food Data meetup that we have co-organised in Canada earlier this year, we had the opportunity to meet with a range of academics from the University of Guelph and staff from Grey County to [...]
“In 10 years I want all food and agriculture data to be interconnected”
Right before the ODI Summit 2016 in London, I gave an interview at Hannah Foulds from the Open Data Institute, UK. She asked me how I think the world will look like in 10 years’ time, with advances in [...]
European Policy Perspectives on Data-intensive Agriculture & Food
How do European officials working on agriculture and food topics deal with the emerging data revolution in the sector? How can they be aware of the recent developments in a way that may inform their thinking? And how can they [...]
Agroknow visits Canada to talk about big data in farms
One of the fun things we did during our visit to Ontario this September was our meeting with Canada’s first NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges: Dr. Mike Duncan. With a specialization in Precision Agriculture and Environmental Technologies, the five-year [...]
Can Europe lead a data revolution in agriculture and food?
Let’s take a step to the near future. A shared global data space for agriculture and food will propel the industry forward. Information will become available to all actors producing innovation. Analytical and decision making tools can incorporate a greater [...]
A Common Data Ecosystem for Agriculture and Food
We believe that for a data revolution to happen, agriculture and food need a fabric of interoperable and interplaying infrastructure layers. Having such an infrastructure in place, will make data sharing and exchange as natural to us, as it is [...]
Crete, London, Sofia: from data-powered ideas to a data ecosystem revolution
From Crete, to London, to Sofia. I feel that during the past 30 days, some tectonic movements took place in our area of work. Our Open Harvest came first, assembling and connecting 30 handpicked experts from around the world. Offering them an oportunity and [...]
Harvesting open ideas from great minds: Open Harvest 2016
The time has come again to open our home to the world. To invite good colleagues and friends, but to also welcome new people that we are meeting for the first time. To organise and host a special event, a [...]
Seven months of a re-vamped FAO AGRIS service: what’s next?
One of the major things that happened in Agroknow last year, was the introduction of a brand new service for supporting the data processing workflows of FAO’s AGRIS. Following a strategic partnership that was introduced in September 2014 by the [...]
“I do big data for the food & beverage industry” – OK, but for which problem?
I was reading through the 2013 report on “Formula for growth: Innovation, big data and analytics” that the US Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and Deloitte Consulting L.L.P. produced. This is a very interesting report, since it outlines the opportunities big [...]