• Build local digital innovation hubs offering innovation services and access to finance • Organize regional challenges for initiating new Innovation Experiments • Conduct multi-actor Innovation Experiments for a digital transformation • Creating a pan-European network of Digital Innovation Hubs and Competence Centres

1. 1 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant
agreement № 818182
SmartAgriHubs
Digital Innovation Hubs – Digital Transformation of Agriculture
at a Regional Level
Sjaak Wolfert
Scientific Coordinator
2nd Annual Connected Agriculture and Construction Machinery Forum
26 Nov. 2019, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2. 2 2
1. Background and Context
2. Ecosystem Development
3. From IoF2020 to SmartAgriHubs
4. SmartAgriHubs Objectives
5. SmartAgriHubs Key Concepts
6. Network Expansion by Open
Calls
Table of
contents

3. 3
Digital Transformation of Agri, Food, Nutrition & Health in 4 areas
Cloud Computing
Big Data
Analytics
Internet of Things
Linked Data
Artificial Intelligence
Blockchain
Technology
HealthFood Safety Environment Nutrition Food SecurityClimate3. Public decision-making
Smart Sensing
& monitoring
Smart Control
Smart Analysis
& Planning
1. Decision-Making
Business/Consumers
2. Food Integrity
4. Science
& Technology
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/transdisciplinary-data-driven-research-social-sjaak-wolfert/

4. 4
European Ecosystem Development on Digital Transformation
Industry 4.0
Network of
Digital
Innovation Hubs
Future Internet PPP
Open Source
Software Ecosystem
Food, Nutrition &
Health
Research Infrastructure
ESFRI roadmap
Boost rural
economies
through
cross-sector
digital service
platforms
Smart Rural
Regional
Ecosystems

5. 5
Johan Bouma
Interview in Resource, 4 October 2018, p. 18-19
“You can’t achieve the UN’s
sustainability goals through
individual disciplines.
It is really important to get
the stakeholders involved in
the entire process.
It’s not about us solving their
problem, it’s our joint problem
that we need to jointly research
in the knowledge that there are
no direct solutions.”
Multi-
disciplinarity
Collaborative
process
Agile
development

6. 6 Verdouw, C.N., Wolfert, S., Beers, G., Sundmaeker, H., Chatzikostas, G., 2017. IOF2020: Fostering business and software ecosystems for large-scale uptake of IoT in food and farming, in:
Nelson, W. (Ed.), The International Tri-Conference for Precision Agriculture in 2017, Hamilton, p. 7. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1002903
A multidisciplinary, collaborative, agile approach
Trials/Use Cases: Knowledge & App development
Lean multi-actor approach
1. CO-DESIGN
3. EVALUATION
2. IMPLEMENTATION
LARGE
SCALE
ECOSYSTEM & COLLABORATION SPACE
Project Coordination
& Management
P2P1
Business Modelling, Governance & Ethics
P3
Data Science & Information management
Ecosystem Development
Project Coordination
& Management
Project Coordination
& Management
Project Coordination
& Management

7. 7
19 + 14 use case projects
Source: www.iof2020.eu/trials

8. 8
Soil map based variable rate applications and machine automation in potato production
UC1.1. WITHIN-FIELD
MANAGEMENT ZONING
Coordinators: Peter Paree (ZLTO) & Corné Kempenaar (WUR)

9. 9
SOIL MAP SERVICE
VARIABLE RATE
APPLICATION MAP
AUTOMATION & MACHINE
COMMUNICATION
Product Impressions

10. 10
Major Challenge Here is what we aim to improve (KPIs)
Yield by better
plant distribution
Variable planting distance map –
Validation in 2017 and 2018. Nov. 2018
portal where maps can be ordered.
Variable rate herbicide use map -
Validation in 2016 and 2017. May 2018
portal where maps can be ordered.
Quality by better
plant distribution
Reduction
pesticide use
Core Product Features
Variable Rate
Application Map Service
Customer & Provider
Uses soil maps and agronomic knowledge to create
crop management task map based on variability in
soil characteristics like organic matter and/or clay
content, water storage capacity, tramlines, shade,
etc..
Smart application of resources: seeds,
pesticides, fertilizers +4%
+5%
-23%
Better distribution of plants leads to +5% kilos and +5% better
quality (more potatoes in desired size). Taking soil characteristics
for weed growth into account: -23% less herbicide and +2% more
yield.
Enriching canopy index with soil characteristics lead to -10% less
additional N fertilizer (2nd phase).
These values derive from comparison of a standard farm’s performance
prior to the installation of our system and after.
Reduction
fertilizer use
-10%
Product Factsheet
Existing variable rate maps are often based on tweaking
expert judgement and lack a certain level of precision in
tasking / lack of validation.
Farmers and advisors
Price per unit
Data-, service,
infra-, knowledge
providers
VRA additional N spraying
June 2018 on Growth + Soil Maps.
High spatio-temporal monitoring dashboard
Service
Business model Minimum Viable Products
Added Value

11. 11
Consolidate and foster EU-wide network of Ag DIHs to enhance
digital transformation for sustainable farming and food production
Region and Sector
Specific expertise
Digital Transformation of the
European Agri-Food Sector
Technology expertise
Business model expertise
Overall objective

12. 12
The 5 basic concepts of SmartAgriHubs
Innovation service
maturity model for
DIHs
Innovation
Portal
Innovation
Experiments
Layered network
of DIHs & CCs in
Regional Clusters
Digital Innovation
Hubs
Competence
Centres

13. 13
Where IoF2020 stops... and SmartAgriHubs continues

14. 14
Digital Innovation Hub – local one-stop shop
Incubators
Government
Cooperatives
Farmer communities
Investors
Others
Advisories
Research organisations
Start-ups
Education & training institutes
Large companies
Industry associations
Other Competence CentersCompetence Center
Orchestrator
Other DIHs
Innovation Experiments

15. 15
DIH innovation services
Ecosystem
• Community building
• Strategy development
• Ecosystem learning
• Project development
• Lobbying
Technology
• Strategic RDI
• Contract research
• Technical support on scale-up
• Provision of technology
infrastructure
• Testing and validation
Business
• Incubator/accelerator
support
• Access to finance
• Skills and education

16. 16
Challenge of SmartAgriHubs: Expand!
Ecosystem
108 Partners
Involved covering all EU
68 partners are SMEs
54% of budget allocated to SMEs
Digital
Innovation
hubs
140 DIHs in the existing Network
covering all 28 Member States
Regional Approach
9 Regional Clusters
Attract 260 New DIHs
Flagship
innovation
experiments
28 FIEs
22 Countries involved
13 Cross-border collaboration FIEs
(47%)
Impact
24M additional funding
Mobilized from other sources(public,
regional, national and private)
80 new digital solutions
Introduced into the market
2M Farms involved in digitisation
Open Calls
6M Euros distributed through
Open Calls
75% Open Call budget to SMEs
70 New Innovation Experiments
Arable 8
(28,6)
Fruit 4
(14,2%)Vegetables 5
(17,8%)
Livestock 10
(35,7%)
Aquaculture 1
(3,5%)
5
sectors

17. 17
Open call for proposals - preliminary ideas!
SAH
Open Call
money
500k€ ?
Additional
Investment Fund
xx M€ ??
• #IEs
• #digital solutions
• DIH services++
• Return on Investment
Proposal for programme
€? €

18. 18
Possible, typical outline of a proposal
• Consortium of DIH(s) and fund(s) (+ SMEs?)
• Addressing a certain region (small or cross-country?)
• Addressing certain thematic priorities (sector, ...)
• Approach (re-do SAH?)
• FIEs as kick-starters, leading examples
• Challenges, hackathons, to identify new IEs  matchmaking
• ...
•  should enhance DIH services!!

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Diversity in proposals is expected
IE, DIH, CC
Instruments
Geographical location
RegionLivestock, arable,
vegetables, fruit, aquaculture
Agri-food sector
KPIs:
• >70 New Innovation
Experiments
• 6 M€ SmartAgriHubs
Funding
• Leverage with external
public & private funds
aiming at mobilising
additional 24 M€

20. 20
To allocate the
remaining 500k€ as
‘prize money’
• Hackathons/datathons
, ...
For those DIHs that
didn’t make it for the
open call
SmartAgriHubs
challenges - another
idea

21. 21
Preliminary time path open call
• Until April 2020: preparation, setting thematic
priorities
• 30 April 2020: official launch open call
????
• Announcement co-locating with an event?
• Synergies for match-making, by a
harmonised approach all WPs
• Until end of summer (August): proposal
submission
• Q4-2020: Evaluation and selection of
proposals

22. 22
• Existing DIH network
• SMEs/start-ups/scale-ups
• Network of Competence
Centres
• Flagship Innovation
Experiments (> 60 incl.
IoF2020)
• Excellent, well-equipped
support team
• 6M€ SAH money
Our offer:

23. 23