Hello, everyone. Would you give any comments and tips?

[Nedelcho Iliev Gospodinov]

h2020-wp1820-eic_en.pdf

[Nedelcho Iliev Gospodinov]

Hi, sorry for my late answer

a.European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is a unique EU initiative that boosts innovation and entrepreneurship across Europe with one simple idea: through diversity, there is strength. It supports the development of dynamic pan-European partnerships between leading universities, research labs and companies. Together, they develop innovative products and services, start new companies, and train a new generation of entrepreneurs. They bring ideas to market, turn students into entrepreneurs and, most importantly, they innovate. These partnerships are known as EIT Innovation Communities.

b.Working in an Innovation Community can offer a creative blast – new partners, new facilities,

new disciplines and cultures. For researchers in a university, the Innovation Community can

grant access to corporate labs, applied research disciplines, and ambitious entrepreneurs

to make ideas real. For researchers in companies, an Innovation Community can broaden

partner networks, bring out new ideas, and draw on new disciplines to ensure that research

results help bring solutions to the market, address the needs of citizens and make a societal

impact.

Students and alumni

Students will find that the EIT Community is built around a new way of approaching

innovation and business creation. Thanks to our broad partner base, students can meet

professionals from companies, big and small, increasing the chances of landing a job or

creating a company. Student training through the Innovation Communities reflects the

multifaceted reality of innovation and learning by doing. In addition, students meet likeminded

For end customers, the main advantage of Digital Farming is the significantly larger information- and

knowledge-base obtained (brand-independently) from sensors, machines and other sources. Specific

benefits can be provided by the utilisation of data portals, for example:

the integrated design of farm data processing solutions means that data (e.g. master data) must be

entered and maintained only once;

data gathering can be automated without the end-customer having to insert the data manually;

the quality of decision-making is enhanced by consistent data;

there is a reduction of support complexity (and costs) for in-house data processing;

there is more rapid exploitation of high-performance technology – without investment by the farm;

Communities is measured in terms of tangible

benefits for the European economy and society

at large, such as the creation of new businesses,

products and services in existing and future markets,

contributions to tackling societal challenges, better

skilled entrepreneurial people, new and more

attractive job opportunities, and the attraction and

retention of talent from across the European Union

and abroad. The system focuses on achievements,

results, and the generation of both economic

and societal impact to be benchmarked against

best international practices. In order to have a

comprehensive view of the impact brought about

by the EIT and the Innovation Communities, the EIT

evaluation system combines evaluations carried out

by the European Commission with assessments of

topics of strategic relevance for the EIT performed by

either the EIT or the European Commission.

Entrepreneurship to find solutions to major societal challenges in areas with high innovation potential – and create quality jobs and growth. Since 2010, we have launched six Innovation Communities.

The Innovation Communities carry out activities that cover the entire innovation chain: training and education programmes, reinforcing the journey from research to the market, innovation projects, as well as business incubators and accelerators. The EIT’s role is to guide the process and set the strategies, but it’s up to the Innovation Communities to put these into practice and provide results.

c.

Data is the key ingredient for the European farming sector to become more productive and sustainable

and remain competitive in a global environment. Looking at the food production chain as a whole, data is

a key tool to demonstrate compliance with legal obligations and risen societal expectations as regards

food safety and production methods. With enhanced transparency and traceability, it will be possible to

produce more and better food for a growing population while reducing the environmental footprint. For data processing, and in particular data analysis, expert systems are available

to the end customer, which would be difficult or impossible for individual farms to attain by inhouse

data processing. In other words, farmers can now leverage a hitherto unknown level of

knowledge from external partners.

Data exchange / benchmarking: Networking with external partners, and in particular the

automated integration of information and data, leads to a considerably broader knowledge base

and hence to well-founded, fast decision-making. Value (algorithms) is created based on data

captured in other areas of the production chain.

Farm operations, inputs and outputs are optimised: seeds are optimised for the field and

environmental conditions, equipment is optimised for the job. Data is used to enhance the

performance of these input products with additional services.

Digital Farming already is a reality in some areas: for instance, GPS guidance systems for controlled traffic

farming, site-specific fertilisation or plant protection measures as part of a complete production/input

cycle using proprietary cloud-based connectivity. This being said, automated data processing and

completely integrated, harmonised networks still present a not-so-distant future for agriculture and

agricultural machinery. Dedicated efforts by all concerned actors are needed to realize this future vision.

d.Satellite monitoring

The essence of such monitoring is the analysis of the state of crops based on satellite imagery. Flying over a certain territory and taking high resolution pictures, the satellite fixes the sections with the required fields.

The images obtained are a source of operational information on crops, and thanks to special spectral sensors, vegetative indices (NDVI, NDRI, RVI, etc.) can be calculated.

The most popular in plant growing is the NDVI index - "Normalized Difference Vegetation Index". Based on data on biomass activity, the index is used to assess the state of crops at a particular time or in dynamics.

Green plants in the process of photosynthesis absorb the bulk of the visible light spectrum and reflect near infrared waves. Thus, the NDVI index is calculated - the difference between the values ​​of the red and near infrared spectrum, divided by their sum. Characterizing the density of vegetation, NDVI points to those parts of the field that need to be re-planted, applied to the PPP and fertilizers.

e.Although the concept of drone, an unmanned ship, is already old, it has been during the last decade when these devices have begun to fly our fields and cities regularly. Although they are better known in the area of audiovisual production (as well as in the recreational segmentation), drones to improve agriculture or industry are a major innovation. What had been hours before, is now done in minutes. What was once the result of luck or weather, now can adjust instantly. All this, of course, translates into greater efficiency in production: more quantity and more quality. So much so that it is expected that 80% of the drones that will fly by 2020 will be used in the field of agriculture.

Dedicated efforts by all concerned actors are needed to realize this future vision.

[Patrick Ryan]

Hi Nedelcho,

The EU Horizon 2020 Work-Programme 2018-2020 looks like a good opportunity for the aerial remote-sensing community to propose solutions. Like some of the other members are thinking:

a. What is the problem set you're looking to solve?

b. Who are the end-users and stakeholders?

c. What kind of data are you looking at collecting, processing and disseminating?

d. What kind of sensors will support?

e. What kind of aerial platform will support (manned, unmanned etc.)?

This is a great request for help. Let us know what you think regarding the questions above.

Thanks, Nedelcho

Patrick