(2)FCUP, INESC TEC - CRIIS
Moving from a Death Valley to a Cape of Good Hope, technology transfer is still a critical and complex step in the innovation process. Similarly, technology adoption is also a critical and challenging step.
Having this in mind, INESC TEC created in 2014 TEC4AGRO-FOOD, its Initiative for Agro-Food and Forestry. TEC4AGRO-FOOD is a new organisational approach aiming at structuring the market-pull innovation process, as opposed to the science-push that occurs naturally in INESC TEC’s Research & Development Centres, supporting the establishment of the adequate balance between the two opposing motivations and the full knowledge-to-value chain. TEC4AGRO-FOOD’s mission is co-shaping the digital (r)evolution in agro-food and forestry through research and technological development in digital technologies and robotics for the creation of long-term value for INESC TEC from customers, markets, and relationships.
Taking advantage of INESC TEC’s competencies, namely in the main digital technologies involved in the digital (r)evolution currently ongoing in agro-food and forestry, i.e. Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, resources, where the Laboratory of Robotics and IoT for Smart Precision Agriculture and Forestry, a differentiating asset of INESC TEC - a robotics and IoT lab fully dedicated to agriculture and forestry, plays a crucial role, and experience, including the one acquired in successful interventions in other sectors such as footwear, TEC4AGRO-FOOD has as main application areas Smart (digitalisation) Precision (“right time, right amount, right place”) Agriculture and Forestry, Food Security and Bioeconomy. TEC4AGRO-FOOD may act in all phases of the Smart Precision Agriculture/Forestry cycle, from variability measurement to action with variable rate technologies (VRT), encompassing data analysis and decision and prescription map:
For innovation to occur, the “Innovation Triangle” must be in place. End Users’ (farmers, forestry producers and respective associations) needs (short term) and desires (medium-long term) must be captured by the non-business entities of the research and innovation (R&I) system, such as INESC TEC, and Technology Providers, so they can jointly develop innovative products and services, to be delivered to the End Users by the Technology Providers. INESC TEC may also provide advanced consulting directly to the End Users. Typically (there are exceptions), INESC TEC researches and develops technologies until Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 - System Prototype Demonstration in Operational Environment.
To foster the creation of the “Innovation Triangles”, INESC TEC is present in the relevant Collaborative Laboratories (CoLABs), Competitiveness Clusters (Clusters), and National Competence Centres, and in the Smart Specialisation Regional Platform Food and Environmental Systems (Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N)), has established partnerships, namely with INIAV, Herculano and complementary partners, and especially in what concerns Europe, INESC has started or is strengthening the participation in relevant European programmes/initiatives, together with its proactive participation in the INESC BRUSSELS HUB’s Work Group Agro-Food & Forestry (WG Agro).
TEC4AGRO-FOOD approaches research and innovation always from a “why” (problem/opportunity), “how” (how to make things happen), “what” (solution) perspective, therefore having its research challenges aligned with the main R&I agendas relevant for agro-food and forestry, namely the Innovation Agenda - Terra Futura from the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, Research and Innovation Thematic Agenda for Agrofood, Forestry and Biodiversity from FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology), Digitalisation Strategy from GPP (Office of Planning, Policy and General Administration of the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture), and, at a European level, Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL).
More information and statistics regarding TEC4AGRO-FOOD are included in this issue of the magazine, where it is clear the sustainable growth verified in the last years, both at national and European level.
The mechanisms of adoption and diffusion of digital technologies in agro-food and forestry must be understood on both end-users and system levels, where system refers to the identification and organisation of entities relevant for the adoption and diffusion as explained in the first two articles of this issue. The following three articles tackle technologies, management strategies for a sustainable future, organisations and public policies for smart precision in agriculture-livestock (articles 3 and 4) and forestry systems (article 5). The technology trends expected to drive the decision-making in line with smart precision agriculture and forestry are presented in article 6 (geospatial information systems), article 7 (automation and robots) and article 8 (artificial intelligence). Article 9 explains how multi-omic disciplines, fed by smart-spectroscopy sensors mounted in mobile robotic platforms coupled with artificial intelligence, can be explored to develop advanced smart precision agriculture systems. Article 10 characterises and exemplifies how digital twins can be used to acquire answers concerning questions that are difficult to answer without some context, such as irrigation and fertilisation in a specific environment, as well as climate and soil and their interactions. This set of articles ends with the vision of an end-user/association of end-users of the wine industry and smart precision technology providers in agro-food and forestry (articles 11 and 12).
TEC4AGRO-FOOD’s vision is to become a relevant international player regarding research and technological development in digital technologies and robotics for agro-food and forestry.