PROJECTS
IK4-TEKNIKER is participating in the Internet of Food and Farm project 2020 whose aim is to implement IoT technologies in the agro-food business. The initiative will be presented during the Basque Industry 4.0 conference to be held on November 20-21 to explain how IoT architectures can be applied to optimise the industry.
IoT (Internet of Things) technologies have turned the current digital ecosystem upside down and are currently reaching out applications in areas such as health, transport or “digital homes”. They could also become major turning point for the industrial sector. Such is the case of the agro-food industry that wants to address digital transformation challenges as it is believed that this new technology offers a key element to improve the business as a whole.
The agro-food business is characterised by a high number and scattering of stakeholders involved in the chain; producers, distributors, packaging firms, etc., whose aim is to reach the final link in the chain, i.e., consumers. Significant progress is being made in a broad range of processes thanks to the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in the sector.
It is in this context that IK4-TEKNIKER is currently involved in several research projects aimed at transferring these technologies to the agro-food business to increase the sector’s productivity, use resources more efficiently and improve end product quality.
Consequently, connectivity and interoperability are key elements which, based on analytic data management, allow improvements to be made in terms of enhanced quality, higher efficiency and greater sustainability of production processes. The sector also has other more specific demands such as traceability, safety and reliability with regard to data access and acquisition to better address communication in a sector characterised by a major diversity and fragmentation of the many stakeholders working in this sector.
More specifically, IK4-TEKNIKER is currently participating in a European project called The Internet of Food and Farm 2020, whose main goal consists in setting up an innovation system to further the implementation of digital technologies in the agro-food business. Nineteen cases are being addressed within the scope of this project in fields such as pork and poultry, fruit and vegetables or dairy food processing.
The case under IK4-TEKNIKER’s leadership, based on a data acquisition and processing platform, analyses animal husbandry practices at farms as well as different production stages to identify critical issues causing process inefficiencies to adjust lines of action.
The use of digital technologies in the agro-food business could give rise to improvements such as greater efficiency, more production, better quality and more wellbeing for animals by using less but more optimised resources.
It has to be underscored that this project could directly improve quality and efficiency in terms of poultry survival rates at farms or in transit. It is important to consider that our society will feel more comfortable and trust the sector if animal wellbeing is improved and less antibiotics are used.
This work is to be presented under the title “Architectures and technologies for data management and business improvements in the agro-food business” during the upcoming edition of the Basque Industry 4.0 conference that will take place on November 21 at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Barakaldo.
