Internet in a plate – European Commission investing EUR 30 million in agriculture of the future

The European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG Agri) and the Directorate-General for Communications Network (DG Connect) are investing EUR 30 million in the joint project Internet of Farming (IoF2020), which should increase the competitiveness of European agriculture globally and accelerate the adoption of the Internet of Things concept in agriculture.

As they say at the BioSense Institute, the IoF2020 project will last for the next four years, and it has recently been presented by the president of the Provincial Government, Igor Mirovic, who pointed out the strong strategic connection between the two strongest potentials of Vojvodina – agriculture and information technologies. This creates conditions for our agriculture to skip years of development and get involved directly in the future, technologically advanced agriculture of Europe.

The success of the IoF2020 project illustrates the strong connection of BioSense with the European research environment, as well BioSense's link with the European Research Agency (ERA) and the reputation of our researchers in Europe. Looking by the size of the investment, Serbia will exceed countries known for investments in innovation, such as Israel, Turkey and Switzerland, through this project.

IoF2020 connects IT experts, end users from the agriculture and food sectors, researchers, SMEs and the biggest European technology companies, to the end of developing European agriculture of the future, with increased productivity and sustainability.

As part of IoF2020, researchers will implement and test close to 20,000 new devices within the Internet of Things, on 19 pilot websites throughout Europe, defined in all five main agricultural branches (farming, livestock breeding, milk production, fruit and vegetable production).

BioSense will coordinate the activities of all 19 pilot sites, which will provide the researchers with a full insight into all the challenges of agricultural production. It will also rate and select these perspective technologies in the agricultural sector for implementation in Serbia.

Building upon the legacy of several accelerator projects realized by BioSense (FRACTALS and KATANA), an open invitation will be placed within IoF2020, which is especially important for the IT sector, as grants of EUR 6 million will be invested in financing small and medium IT companies for the development of new products based on the “internet of the future” and applicable in agriculture.

The consortium of 71 partners throughout Europe will be introduced to the potential of Vojvodina as an ideal meeting point of the IT and the agricultural sector, thereby enhancing the regional branding and promoting opportunities for investment.

BioSense Novi Sad

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Bruxelles

Vlada AP Vojvodina

BioSense Institute

European Commission

Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development

DG Agri

Directorate General for Communications Network

DG Connect

Internet of Farming

IoF2020

Igor Mirovic

European Research Agency

ERA

FRACTALS

KATANA

small and medium enterprises

IT entrepreneurship