Category Archives: Meeting

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Webinar: Data Governance Issues in Digital Agriculture. A farmer’s perspective

Conference, Digital Farming, Meeting, research

A webinar organised by the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Data Science User Group.

Friday, Nov 5, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Central US Time, Data Science User Group monthly speaker event:  

Foteini Zampati will talk about ” Data Governance Issues in Digital Agriculture. A farmer’s perspective.”

How to attend: The event will be hosted online via Zoom (https://illinois.zoom.us/j/92602473524?pwd=cExZQVN6UHFxVU1UR0Zad2JPaHZtQT09). To attend, RSVP at CU DSUG Event Page: https://www.meetup.com/CU-DSUG/events/btjlgsyccpbhb/

Abstract: There is no doubt that data-driven agriculture has increased the agricultural production and productivity, reduced the risk and improved resilience in farming, brought more economic and efficient use of natural resources, and helped farmers in decision making. The key actors in agriculture, farmers in general and smallholder farmers in particular feel that they are not the ones who are harnessing the benefits of digital technologies and discourages them from fully adopting them. Farmers have concerns about who controls access to, and sharing of, data that are generated on and their  farms, they have concerns about their privacy and their data rights, and in many cases they are not fully aware of the benefits of digital farming. They need assurances of their data sharing and control, they seek transparency and trust. This webinar will focus on farmers’ perspective and how they could actively participate in a more equitable data sharing and exchange in the agri-food value chain by contributing to the design of a fairer data governance framework. The development of ag codes of conduct is an example that will be explored.

Bio: Foteini Zampati is a legal professional with almost 20 years of experience. She holds an LLB in Law and LLM in European Union and Business Law. Currently she is working as an international freelance consultant on data privacy, compliance, and ethics. During her career Foteini has collaborated with various stakeholders, among them the United Nations of Food and Agriculture (FAO), the Kenyan Government, the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ) on international projects to develop policies, codes of conducts and guidelines for fairer and more responsible data governance frameworks.

She has also worked as a data rights research specialist to support the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative on Ethical and Legal aspects of Open data.

One of the main areas of her expertise is the research and analysis of national and international legislation on (Open) Data and Intellectual Property, ownership issues and data rights, compliance and best practices across all aspects of national and European privacy and security, as also data protection law and regulation (GDPR) in the agricultural sector.

Selected publications by the speaker:

SEED Project holds final peer review event

Conference, Digital Farming, Meeting, research

Partners in the SEED Project held their final partner meeting and peer review event in Ghent and Brussels on 7-9 September 2021.

The project welcomed more than 50 participants from across Europe to examine the outputs and activities of the project and help establish a plan for exploitation of the outcomes.

The exploitation plan was based on a workshop at the University of Ghent on September 8th 2021, carried out with more than 40 peer reviewers from across Europe.

The plan was developed to describe the activities that should be carried out to enhance the successful exploitation of the project results in terms of future development after the project has been completed. Exploitation planning usually  involves the promotion and use of the products or processes and placing them on the market.

An introduction to the project was given by the project coordinator Altheo Valentini from Umbraflor. The partners from Belgium, Italy, Slovakia and Spain presented the impact of the project in their own institutions, regions and countries.

The Powerpoint slides are provided here.

The actions and outcomes of the SEED Project

 

Following this introduction, a peer review workshop activity took place where participants were invited to add their expertise to the project by answering the following four questions:

  1. In what areas should the SEED Project continue to make an impact?
  2.  Who are the key stakeholders / targets to take forward the work of SEED?
  3.  Which parts of the SEED outputs can most be used by others?
  4.  How can we engage companies, training organisations and Ministries of education?

Based on this review an exploitation plan was presented at the final conference of SEED on September 9th 2021.

SEED peer review image

 

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SEED Project Final Partner Meeting

Conference, Meeting

Partners in the SEED Project held their final partner meeting at the University of Ghent, Belgium on Tuesday 7th September 2021.  The meeting was in a hybrid meeting format (face to face and via Zoom) due to remaining Covid travel restrictions. t-pant image

The Smart Entrepreneurial Education and training in Digital farming – SEED project develops skills in agriculture by introducing a digital transformation in the profession.

The project facilitates the development of skills and competences to meet labour market needs and also to be more flexible in anticipating future skills’ gaps for the digital agriculture sector.

The partner meeting discussed the final actions in the project, which concludes at the end of September and dealt with final reporting for the project and remaining issues.

The partners finalised plans for the final peer-review event to be held on Wednesday 8th at ‘t Pand, an historic building in the centre of Ghent and for the final project conference at the Umbria Region office in Brussels on Thursday 9th September.

 

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Social Hackathon Umbria 2021

Conference, Digital Farming, Meeting

After a one-year break due to the pandemic, the Social Hackathon Umbria will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a major digital co-creation event focused on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and shared with Fertitecnica Colfiorito and FAO, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

#SHU2021 foresees a four-day Hackathon, Workshops, Exhibitions and Laboratories, next 1-4 July 2020 in the beautiful setting of the Colfiorito Park, a protected natural area and example of many sustainable development practices of the Umbria Region.

At the same time as the training courses, we will launch a call for ideas on four thematic areas: #zerohunger, #zerowaste, #zeroimpact and #zeroignorance.
The call is open to local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) including NGOs, non-profit associations, and any other type of public and private organisation (including informal groups of young people under 35 years of age) that works for or supports the third sector and the society in general. Applicants can propose any sort of digital solution that is relevant to their internal and/or external needs and that respects the following selection criteria:
  • social relevance: is the digital project relevant to at least one of the challenges proposed by the Social Hackathon Umbria?
  • local community impact: will the digital solution have an impact on the CSO development and/or on the quality of services provided to disadvantaged target groups?
  • Social Hackademy adequacy: is the project idea in line with the skills and knowledge acquired during the #hackAD training? Is it possible to develop it during the 48 hours of Hackathon?

For each area, we will select the two most relevant ideas that can be developed by teams of up to 8 members led by an experienced team manager. During the 48 hours of the hackathon, teams will be able to create a pitch, prototype or product to present in front ofan international jury for the award of a digital prize with a commercial value of €100.

Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the challenge first-hand… visit https://www.socialhackathonumbria.info/en/live-the-challenges
Deadline to apply is Friday 4 June 2021!

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SEED Webinar during European Green Week, June 7th 2021

Conference, Digital Farming, Meeting, sustainability

 

“The carbon footprint of digital technologies in the AgriTech and Precision Agriculture sectors”

 

The European Environment Agency warns that “Europe’s environment is at a tipping point”. This event examines the situation in the agriculture sector, sharing practices as well as issues and challenges being faced. In the context of the European Green Deal and the European Commission’s ambition to adopt an EU Action Plan Towards a Zero Pollution Ambition for air, water and soil in 2021.

The webinar will introduce the SEED project which has created new qualifications and curricula incorporating digital farming and the tools and technologies for more sustainable practices. A panel of experts, that have implemented research or innovative practices in order to assess, monitor and reduce the energetic impact of digital transformation in agriculture, will present their work and discuss the zero pollution goals.

Panelists include:

Antonio Román

Innovation project technician
@ Innogestiona Ambiental (Spain)
The LiveAdapt Project: solutions for adaptation
to climate change of extensive livestock production

Karel Charvat

Plan4All, AgriHub.cz
Digital innovation centre & its contribution
to climate change & zero pollution

Cláudia Brites

Head of Sustainability @ Ecoinside
Sustainability in the agriculture sector

7th June 2021
11.00 AM CET

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Digital agriculture: UmbraFlor, EGInA and Ciuffelli made SEED

Digital Farming, Meeting

The project for Smart Entrepreneurial Education and training in Digital farming – SEED – is drawing to a conclusion. Coordinated by UmbraFlor, the nursery of the Umbria Region, the project involves the Agricultural High school of Todi and the European Grants International Academy of Foligno, together with other partners from Spain, Belgium and Slovakia.

The initiative, which aims to develop skills and competences in the agricultural sector by introducing the concept of digital transformation, supports the development of a joint VET qualification (EQF 5) on digital agriculture.

A 100-hour training phase is scheduled to start in April, with the theoretical part taking place online and the practical part in the field at the Istituto Ciuffelli training centre. The participants have been selected among the last years’ agricultural expert graduates who have shown interest in a real opportunity for professional qualification.

The training activities will begin on 12 April with an online session; practical training sessions for small groups are then planned for 14-15-16-21-22-23 April. At the end of the month, four more online training days will be held: 26, 27, 28 and 29 April.

The lessons will continue in May with a further six days of practical training in the field (12, 13, 14 and 19, 20 and 21), to be followed by a final one at a later stage.

The training course has been developed on the basis of the Joint Curriculum developed by the project partners, as well as taking into account the new EASA / ENAC regulations that came into force in January 2021 and are still being implemented at national level, with the various modules preparatory to obtaining UAS/ENAC certificates.

SEED project in Italy

Meeting

The participation of the external stakeholders to the SEED project in Italy is now entering a crucial phase. Experts in digital agriculture, academics and companies have taken part in two focus groups organized on the 6th and 14th of February 2020. They have given a relevant contribution to the review of the curriculum and the competence units. Several key stakeholders such as the University of Perugia, Agricolus, CRATIA Confagricoltura, joined project partners in the two day focus groups and will also participate in in the international event planned in Pamplona, Spain from 23-27 February.

New tools for digital farming advisors

Meeting

SEED partners and visiting external experts visited the Transfer of Innovation Centre INTIA (http://intisa.es) as part of the meeting held in Pamplona Spain on February 25 2020.

During the meeting, the Agroasesor agri-business advisory tool ( https://agroasesor.es/en/) was described and discussed. The tool allows the generation of data for decision making on different land parcels and agricultural plots. An App is used to establish Traceability helping farmers with crop scheduling, monitoring and strategy.

Sentinel 2 satellite functionalities have been introduced in the Agroasesor tool, with high resolution imagery and 5-day sequencing. The tools allow forecasting and modelling of crops in the hands of farmers and land managers.

A pest monitoring and warning system was then described as a decision support for crop management limiting treatments. Agrointegra was a Life project with an open platform and collaborative online tool (https://agrointegra.eu/en/).This tool is part of an advisory service offered to associate farmers, transmitting latest data to them. The Nadapta Life project eas also introduced. It created an open platform on crop risk (https://lifenadapta.navarra.es/es/) and tests risk prediction models.

The partners and experts then visited the Public University of Navarre to examine the challenges raised by Industry 4.0, where technologies manage, control and transform workplace processes.

SEED project peer review event

Meeting

SEED project partners and experts from across Europe meet this week in Pamplona, Spain to validate the SEED vocational training curriculum created for ‘Smart Entrepreneurial Education and training in Digital farming’. The purpose of the meeting is to validate the curriculum content, training methodology and assessment methods. As a European project it is important to identify which units can be related to EQAVET (Quality Assurance in VET training).

SEED is a two-year Key Action 3 project seeking to create a vocational qualification “digital advisor in farming”. The qualification will enable the students to be able to advise farmers about innovation and digitalisation. An in-depth analysis of more than 270 qualification profiles from the 4 partner countries (Belgium, Italy, Slovakia, Spain). Based on this research a qualification profile has been designed to focus on digitalisation and entrepreneurship.

The three core units envisaged at EQF (European Qualification Framework) level 5 are agribusiness, innovation and digital perspectives.

Four domain related competences are being evaluated, Strategic planning and sustainable management, Precision farming, Agrifood and added value services and Digital marketing and e-commerce.

First expert review meeting in Nitra, Slovakia

Meeting
The SEED project seeks to develop and validate a joint vocational qualification on digital farming. The partners presented their initial research results examining the existing situation in different countries, trends in the field and the importance of training actions.

A peer review exercise followed with leading experts from Belgium, Slovakia, Italy and Spain exploring fields related to digital transformation in rural activities. This review dealt with digital knowledge in professional profiles, strategic thinking for value added approaches to digital innovation and the challenge of entrepreneurial actions in decision-making processes.

SEED Project Introduction Peer Review Event from Karl Donert

A presentation in May 2019 at the University of Agriculture Nitra Slovakia as part of the first expert peer-review event held as part of the KA3 Erasmus Plus SEED Project. This presentation introduced the project and the research findings on digital farming, related qualifications and competences. It presents the peer review methodology.

SEED Project kickoff meeting

Meeting

All  the SEED Project partners gathered at Umbraflor in the Umbria Region  on 28-30 October 2018 to kickoff the new Key Action 3 VET (vocational education) Forward Looking project funded by the European Commission.

The project partners dealt with many different aspects of the project, especally considering the issues concerning the digital transformation of the rural economy.

A presentation concerning green development solutions was made by Fulvio Ananasso, President of Stati Generali dell’Innovazione, an associated partner to the project.

The SEED project aims to i) increase the employability of young people, by supporting the development of a highly skilled, qualified and mobile workforce, also thanks to transnational placement; ii) support the development of a joint VET qualification at the EU level; and iii) promote work-based learning, supported by a mobility component.

Each of the project outcomes was examined and action plans developed, including work placements and international mobility supported by the grant.