AgriDataSpace

General introduction

The AgriDataSpace project has set the broad outlines for a useful and successful use of data and digital technologies in the agri-food chain. The EU has big ambitions: the F2F and Green Deal strategy aims to protect the competitive position of companies in a global market that is more driven by digital platforms. Concretely, inspiring data sharing initiatives, good examples and guidelines are now available, and next steps can come towards a more mature European data space.

The AgriDataSpace consortium (10 countries) consisted of a team with highly developed data mining knowledge, i.c. people from knowledge centers, agricultural data intermediaries and industry associations. 

Research approach

In close interaction with stakeholders, being farmers and agri-food chain companies from all involved member states, AgriDataSpace mapped the existing data exchange landscape and experiences with it, including governance and business models and evolving legislation. The researchers proposed a technical reference architecture and technical building blocks. A roadmap for the future 'EU agricultural data space' was also prepared, with a short- and longer-term plan of action. 

Relevance/Valorisation

Large amounts of data from different sources in the agrifood sector, and data generated in the context of policy implementation, theoretically have the potential to create additional services for farmers that help them in their decision-making processes and benchmarks against competitors. In addition, there are other, as yet unknown benefits of agricultural data sharing among the various ecosystem players that are adopting data technologies on a larger scale. Those benefits may be economic or environmental performance-related. The results of this project provide a good basis for a follow-up project in which the AgriDataSpace continues to develop, including a diversity of use cases and tests of proposed solutions, and successful applications.