ICT-AGRI-FOOD Knowledge Incubator online workshop - 29 SEP 2023

The Knowledge Incubator Training Workshop was held in online mode on September 29th 2023, bringing together project partners within the ICT-AGRI-FOOD community. With ongoing advancements in ICT-AGRI-FOOD funded projects, the aim of this workshop was to provide guidance on effectively utilizing the Knowledge Incubator platform. This included uploading new innovations as well as improving the ones that were already uploaded. The overarching goal was to populate the tool and thereby facilitate the accessibility of the public research results funded by the ERA-NET initiative to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) interested in collaborating with agricultural and environmental researchers to develop commercial products in the agricultural and food sectors.

The workshop started with an engaging introductory session by Johannes Pfeifer (BLE) on ERA-Net ICT-AGRI-FOOD, the Joint Calls for research funded by the network, and the Knowledge Incubator platform.

Following this, Livia Ortolani (MASAF) presented the importance of activating the Knowledge Incubator underscoring its role in disseminating the outcomes of various projects with various stakeholders, as well as in integrating ICT technologies within the agri-food sector.  The presentation delved into key questions such as the purpose of the Knowledge Incubator, its operational mechanics, its origins, the present state of the platform, and its envisioned future.  Thereafter, Ancy Kollamparambil (MASAF) outlined the steps involved in uploading innovations to the platform, providing valuable tips and suggestions to make the uploaded information attractive and creative. 

Two researchers were invited as guest speakers in the workshop who shared their experience with the Knowledge Incubator. Brunella Morandi (UNIBO) provided insights into their iterative use of populating the Knowledge Incubator throughout their SHEET project’s duration “Fruit sunburn and heat prediction in canopies for evolving a warning tech solution”.  Panagiotis Zervas (SCiO) presented their GOhydro project “A smart sensing AI driven platform for scalable, low cost hydroponic units” and the five innovations they contributed to the Knowledge Incubator, along with their future suggestions for the platform's improvement.

In the next part of the workshop, a discussion with participants was facilitated through Q&A to participants about the ICT Agrifood research community and the Knowledge Incubator.

As a next step, a communication campaign will be launched to stimulate greater utilization of the Knowledge Incubator.

In case you need more information and/or any support, please reach out to:

The MASAF team for content support: Livia Ortolani (livia.ortolani.ext@politicheagricole.it) and Ancy Kollamparambil (asmathew.kollamparambil.ext@masaf.gov.it).

The ILVO team for technical support: Marijke Hunninck (Marijke.Hunninck@ilvo.vlaanderen.be) and Mikayel Hovhannisyan (Mikayel.Hovhannisyan@ilvo.vlaanderen.be).

The workshop recording can be found on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRNyCNVNo68