DIVA project - Layman report - EU Project DIVA
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DIVA project – Layman report 1.DIVA Key issues 1.1 Fostering the emergence of innovative digital solutions for agri-food, forestry and environment The digital sector has rapidly evolved in the last decade with the regular emergence of new technologies (sensors, internet of things, mobility, data science, etc.). This enables the industrial sectors to change the way in which activities have been previously done to date and open new perspectives in terms of improved accuracy, efficiency, and reliability, etc. Beyond assisting in primary production, digital technologies have immense potential to support many elements of the rural economy, from food and non-food supply chain management to new business development. In similar sectors, such as forestry, digital technologies' potential is also very high, especially for enhancing sustainable production and eco-efficient industrial transformation. Progress is also high in technologies for remote monitoring of environmental aspects and biodiversity. The large amounts of data easily obtained by these digital technologies can also be vital to monitoring the effectiveness of bioeconomy policies regarding food security, resource efficiency, and climate change mitigation. The European project DIVA (Innosup 01) was to support the emergence of innovative digital solutions for the agri-food sector and the related ones: forestry and environment, and promote the development of new industrial digitech value chains. Coordinated by the Cluster AGRI SUD-OUEST INNOVATION (France) in cooperation with nine other partners from 6 countries: Digital 113 (France), CTA and AMETIC (Spain), INESCTEC and TECLAB (Portugal), CRPV and H-FARM (Italy), GRNET (Greece) and TEAGASC (Ireland), the DIVA project has boosted during 3 years (2018-2021) the innovation ecosystems of these countries in order to instigate the emergence of innovative solutions brought by SMEs, accelerate the conception of disruptive cross-sectoral and cross-border projects, and support the development of new digitech value-chains. The strategy of the DIVA project was based first of all on the definition of an innovation framework allowing SMEs to clearly identify the needs of the application sectors to be solved. The objective was then to organise events and workshops to encourage the creation of projects. This emergence phase was carried out on a national and European scale prior to the launch of two calls for projects. The last stage of DIVA was based on the support of the winning companies in financial terms, in the form of innovation vouchers, and in the form of coaching and training. 1.2 A voucher scheme worth € 2.7 M to support SMEs The core concept of DIVA was to accelerate new digital ideas all along the innovation chains, from idea emergence up to the demonstration and the internationalisation stages. The voucher scheme was therefore conceived with three main types of instruments: • Maturation Instrument (10 k€ / project - individual) aimed at maturing a business model supported by innovative products, processes, services and technologies or funding activities to produce plans and arrangements or design for few, altered or improved products, processes or services, including prototyping or testing, and bringing them from a TRL 4-5 to a TRL 5-6. • Demonstration instrument (25 or 60 k€ / project - collaborative) aimed at validating the technical and economic viability of a new or improved service, solution or technology in 1 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
an operational (or near to operational) environment and bringing them from TRL 5 to TRL 7. • Internationalisation instrument (30 k€ / project - collaborative) aimed at funding activities to foster internationalisation of a group of SMEs with a demonstrated value chain, enabling SMEs to rapidly improve their value proposition thus ensuring their long- term success at an international level. 2. A framework of innovation identifying the needs for digital solutions The "Digitech Value Chain inspiration framework for Agri-food, Forestry and Environment" identifies and describes the main transnational challenges and the trends affecting the Agri-food, Forestry and Environment value chains. These challenges set the boundaries for presenting potential ICT-based solutions that can positively affect the sectors under assessment. It is composed of 5 drivers of change affecting business and 6 business trends influencing digital innovation (Figure 1). The detailed version of the method is available through this link https://www.projectdiva.eu/diva- Business and digital trends affecting agri-food, trends-map/ forestry and environment The Digitech value chain tool aims to highlight technological opportunities to meet the future challenges of the sector, amplify the importance of digital technologies, and inspire innovation. This inspiration framework consists of a structured and visionary database that is available to solution providers. Nine categories of technologies were selected: Data Analytics, Robotics and Process Automation, Internet of Things, Decision Support Systems, Sensors, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Digital Marketplaces, Blockchain, and Digital Twins. The opportunities and expected projects for these 9 digital technologies across the value chain have been drawn. Together with 26 challenges formulated by stakeholders following a “Call for challenges” https://www.projectdiva.eu/challenges-list/, they compose the DIVA framework of innovation, presented as a source of inspiration for SMEs. 2 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
3. DIVA results and outcomes 3.1 A strong participation of SMEs in response to the open calls Two open calls were launched with deadlines for submission in February 2019 and February 2020 at the European level. As a whole more than 400 proposals were received. They were evaluated by the DIVA consortium following three main criteria: the impact of the project (market description, business model…), the excellence of the project (degree of innovation, technical objectives…) and its implementation (consortium, budget, schedule…). In the end, 134 projects involving 180 SMEs from 9 different EU countries were selected (figure 2): 88 maturation projects, 38 demonstration projects and 8 internationalization projects, which represents a 35 % average success rate. The beneficiaries benefited from direct financial support under the form of vouchers worth 10 to 60 k€ depending on the type of project. Trans-national cooperation has been encouraged for Demonstration and Internationalisation projects where at least 2 SMEs were required. Although it was not made compulsory in the guidelines, 28 % of these projects turned-out to be trans-national. The list and summary of all the projects on :https://www.projectdiva.eu/funded-projects/ One of the DIVA objectives was to facilitate the demonstration of the new value-chains. 38 demonstration projects involving 79 SMEs have been selected for support by DIVA. Each of them has demonstrated a new value-chain in a real environment. 20 are so-called small-scale demonstrations as they represent part of a full value-chain and 18 are large-scale demonstrations where the full value-chain was expected to be represented up to the final user. Among these projects, 4 concern the Forestry sector and 4 concern the Environment sector. After final assessment, 35 of these projects were deemed successful and 10 between them received the highest evaluation scores. They are listed in table 2. Another objective of DIVA was to support innovative solutions across the full spectrum of innovation from idea maturation up to internationalisation. Following the 2 DIVA calls for projects, 8 internationalisation projects gathering 19 SMEs were supported, 3 of which had previously benefited from a demonstration voucher in the first call. The target destinations were the US, the Baltic States, Brazil, Egypt and New Zealand. These projects were impacted by the COVID crisis due to the impossibility to travel in 2020. Nevertheless, alternative solutions have been found to prospect remotely and demonstrate the services envisaged in European countries that were easier to access. Digital services for agriculture developed in Europe have a real relevance on international markets, including in countries like the US with a reputation for AgTech. 3 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
Among the 180 beneficiaries, 34 SMEs benefited from an equity investment among which 10 SMEs raised more than 100 k€ in funding. Total equity investment represented 3,9 M€ and budget investment by the SMEs represented 4,8 M€. As a whole, 8,4 M€ of private investment have been made on the DIVA supported projects, which represents a leverage effect of 3,1 for the investment of the European Commission (2,7 M€ of vouchers). 3.2 Thematic analysis of selected projects Position in the value-chain The majority (63%) of the selected projects concerned the first step of the value chain (sustainable production), mainly focused on crop “monitoring and planning”. Decision support tools for irrigation management, optimized application of phytosanitary products or fertilisers, the detection of diseases or anomalies at the farm level and weed detection were typical purposes of these solutions. While crop production remained the main focus, several projects concerned precision livestock farming, for “cattle monitoring and planning”. Other solutions regarding “phenotyping and genetic Distribution of the 134 selected projects engineering” for crops or crops according to the DIVA challenges and along the “traceability” have been funded. steps of the value-chain (Inner circle: step of the agri-food value-chain ; outer circle: Main issues) The other segments of the value chain have been addressed in a lower level: 13% of selected projects promoted development of business models or IT solutions to deploy innovation and marketing support services to agri-food, environmental or forestry sectors such as the creation of market-places, e-business model, platform to ensure connection of the supply chain actors or interaction between producers and consumers, data property and security tools. Blockchain was typically used in some projects to secure data origin and traceability. 8% of funded projects were focused on “social sustainability”, dealing with sharing concepts, either of knowledge and information (social networks for farmers) or workforces and equipment. Some projects proposed new forms of training through educational platforms for the targeted sectors. Only 7% of supported projects addressed “Advanced manufacturing” actors of the value chain and were focused on process optimization and monitoring or risks assessment solutions. The “Ecological sustainability” (7%) which is positioned upstream of the production was covered by projects on land quality assessment and water quality monitoring. The “Transport and logistics” step of the value chain was only addressed by a few projects despite its huge importance (2%). DIVA calls were intended for agri-food, environmental and forestry stakeholders, covering the whole value chain in a different intensity. In practice, selected projects targeted mainly the agri- food sector (89%). Projects devoted to Forestry concerned 7 % of the selected projects. Although 4 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
it represents a lower share of the projects, it is worth noting that many digital solutions developed for agri-food could easily be applied to forestry as their technological demands and challenges are very similar. The projects devoted to the Environment concerned 4 % of the selected projects. It covers Beehive management, water quality monitoring or weed control in golfs. Here again, despite a low share of the selected projects, it is interesting to see the possible extension of digital solutions originally conceived for the agri-food sector to these new markets. Innovation strength Most of the solutions related to precision farming to improve water, fertilizers, diseases, and weed management at plot scale, funded by DIVA, have been qualified as incremental innovations, in that they are quite usual nowadays. They are normally offered by technological providers or technical assistance companies to the end-users and bring solutions applied to well- known and well-developed sub-sectors. They usually provided decision support systems and addressed the sustainable intensification of farming and digital economy challenges of the sector. Other funded solutions focused on food processing improvement (such as drying process), detection of contaminants or quality monitoring (for wine or honey production for instance) have been considered Cap-trap vision project: connect as incremental innovations too. traps for insect infestation monitoring Another group of projects was qualified as “in the wake of new trends” as they have been already targeted in demonstration and innovation projects funded by other public funds at European level, but that haven not been totally uptaken by the market yet. Regarding the primary production step, DIVA granted solutions based on data aggregation to improve farm management (at farm scale, not at plot scale), or asset management, for decision making. Smart livestock farming solutions have been funded too, especially tools to support calving detection, herd monitoring and poultry management. Regarding the first step of the crop value chain, some solutions focused on automated plant phenotyping. Other interesting solutions were based on the connection of the value chain Cornect project: new sensors for stakeholders. Some applications were based on the share water stress characterization of knowledge (guidelines for labor, e-training, experimentation results) or resources (equipment, workforce) between farmers. Others were platforms based on data sharing to ensure traceability, security, authentication along the whole chain or to share information to improve sales through market forecasts (market-places). Those confirmed solutions funded by DIVA addressed most of the challenges related to digital technologies defined by the DIVA framework. 5 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
- Cutting-edge solutions bring a new approach, concept, combination of technologies or application sub-sectors, to the value chain. Some of those solutions solve farm management challenges using environmental issues as a driver. For instance, the measurement of farm environmental food print, the pollination service assessment, the optimisation of flower thinning or the digital soil quality monitoring, the development of stress sensors based on plant electrophysiology. Some solutions addressed livestock management by the monitoring of animal welfare through a robot. Other innovative solutions are based on strong innovative technologies such as the use of modelling tools to establish digital twins of the genome and to assist plant breeding, or printed Digital Seed project : digital electronics for packaging. Finally, some solutions were tween of plant genome for considered innovative because of the business model or breeding optimization approach they promote: for instance a participatory platform to fund crop or livestock farm management, and specific tools for data sharing such as digital identity management, consent management and incentivizing methodologies. The topics that remain to be addressed Though DIVA funded projects covered most parts of the trends and challenges of the DIVA framework, some thematic areas were poorly addressed and are considered as good opportunities to promote innovation projects. Regarding primary production, more solutions focused on vertical farming projects were expected, only one project has been funded under this topic. Nutrition and health thematic has not been addressed, projects based on personalized nutrition were expected too. Regarding the food industry, no integrated solution for predictive maintenance of industrial facilities has been submitted and solutions to support insurance or accounting services, neither. Only a few projects addressed transport but not logistics of the value chain as a whole. Circular economy approach has been addressed as much as expected. Opportunities of innovation projects can be met on the cross of digitalisation and circular economy challenges of the agri-food sector. The digital technology used In terms of technology, most of the projects implemented data management and analysis tools, be they statistical, modelling or artificial intelligence tools. The acquisition of data through sensors was an important step in digital projects. The sensors were in place, pedestrian or embedded, connected (IoT) or their data made available via specific infrastructure (DIAS for satellite images). The blockchain technology has been used for traceability and data security applications. Technologies associated with robotics (such as optics, mechatronics, or artificial intelligence) were complementary to digital technology. Drones used as an acquisition vector have been at the heart of many projects. 6 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
4. SUCCESS CASES All the selected projects have been monitored by a DIVA national partner in charge. The monitoring procedure included an initial assessment, the definition of a roadmap and a final assessment. The objective of the initial roadmap was three-fold: • Define the perimeter of the project, • Define the expected results vs. DOW implementation, and define result indicators to assess whether the results were indeed met (example of result indicators could be the completion of a test or a market study, which could be checked by a report), • Define performance indicators to qualify the success and interest of the projects beyond the mere achievement of the expected results (an example of Performance indicators could be reaching a minimum accuracy level of a device or a target number of commercial contacts). After completion of the projects, the final assessment was carried-out with the lead SME to review the project achievements and appraise the Result and Performance indicators. In addition, other data was gathered at that moment: • Key figures of the SMEs: Turnover, Added-Value, Number of employees and part of the turnover made on international markets, • Key figures of the projects: Number of new products / services on the market, number of contracts signed (among partners of the Value-Chain created), amount of investment decided (either by the SME itself and/or by investors) as a follow-up of the project, Intellectual property rights generated. In order to rank the projects and highlight the most interesting ones, 2 composite indices have been created in the dashboard: • The quantitative evaluation of project impact, based on measurable outputs (IP generated, Services created, Capital investment) and aims to measure the effective success of every project considering the results concretely achieved. • The qualitative evaluation of project impact, based on the opinion of the DIVA partners who managed the projects, expresses the interest and potential of the project (Interest, Follow-up). With these criteria, it was possible to identify the most innovative and promising projects. 7 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
Table 1: List of 20 best DIVA supported projects Project Lead SME Partner Country Voucher Project title acronym SMEs type Maturation projects AMUSE-FOOD HOSPITALITY GREECE Business and Autonomous Multi-Sensory Monitoring of Food AND AGRIFOOD Technology Processing MADE EASY Maturation ECOFARM ECOCLIMASOL FRANCE Business and Farm monitoring and minimization of Technology environment and health footprint Maturation DIGITALSEED IMEAN FRANCE Business and A new methodology to design crops in breeding Technology programs based on mathematical modeling of Maturation plant DIONYSOS THETAMETRISIS GREECE Business and DigItal monitoring of mycotoxins in vinification Technology procedures Maturation GREELON EBLOCK ENERGY SPAIN Business and Extensive cattle monitoring system TRADE Technology Maturation LAND-HO SCIO GREECE Business and A Land Quality Evaluation Service targeting the Technology Wine Making Industry Maturation LOCALFARM LOCALGREEN ITALY Business and A new concept of vertical farming in a Technology controlled-environment which aims to optimize Maturation plant growth through soilless farming techniques. MGTB LENO CONSULTING AKINAO FRANCE Business and The 1st learning management system dedicated Technology to sustainable environment including Maturation agriculture, organic products, ecological construction, etc SAFEHIVE LIME TECHNOLOGY GREECE Business and A Safety and Quality Monitoring system for IKE Technology Beekeeping Maturation S-EAGER SLOW PHILOSOPHY SPAIN Business and Saffron sensoring for efficient and high Technology performance crops Maturation Demonstration projects C CLAIR RAISON'ALPES TECHNIVUE FRANCE Demonstration Decision support tool for intra-plot modulation - Large scale of apple’s thinning process, using imaging and data analysis in real-time CROP OKP4 FARM LEAP FRANCE Maturation and A decision support tool for crop rotations based Demonstration on cultivation practices and individual and - Large scale collective economic performance. FINEST XILBI NEXLYS SPAIN/ Demonstration Artificial Intelligence based Decision Support PORTUGAL - Small scale System designed to support the farmers in their daily operations. FRUITIOT AGRONICA MARCONI ITALY Demonstration Integration of IOT devices and irrigation DSS for GROUP STEFANO - Large scale sustainable fruit production HYGODEM ALVIE AGROTEST FRANCE/ Demonstration An innovative tool assisting farmers in applying 8 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
CZECH REP. - Large scale plant protection products. MILKSENSE G. EFTHYMIOU - KARAGIANNIS GREECE Demonstration Intelligent data-driven Milk production and A. LOUTRARIS THEOFILOS - Small scale quality monitoring platform TYROKOMIKA POLLISMART IRIDEON CANETIS SPAIN Demonstration Digitized Value Chain of Pollination Services - Large scale RTCV RIGGER SULREGAS PORTUGAL Demonstration Real Time Remote Sensing through Computer - Small scale Vision STOOCK V2 EAGROOP LUMITIO PORTUGAL Demonstration An innovative and scalable crop monitoring VALIDATION - Small scale technology, based on a combined software (Agroop Cooperation) + hardware (Stoock) solution. WOWNATURE ETIFOR NETECH ITALY Demonstration WOWnature: a web-based platform for - Small scale innovative forest Green Infrastructures finance Internationalization projects AGROPLUSMKT AGROINSIDER AMBIENTA PORTUGAL / Internationaliza Internationalization of a new service using SPAIN tion Copernicus Earth Observation and onboard vehicle connectivity system to disrupt Precision Agriculture. OPUSAGRI GRASSTEC JAMJO IRELAND Internationaliza Internationalisation of an innovative solution to tion address the issue of labour shortage in agriculture across Europe. At the top of the ranking, the Consortium voted these 3 projects: ● Best maturation project: LAND-Ho (SCiO P.C.) - Greece ● Best demonstration project: CClair (Raison d'Alpes / Technivue/ Agriconnect) - France ● Best internationalization project: AgroplusMkt (Agroinsider / Ambienta Ingeniería y Servicios Agrarios y Forestales) - Portugal and Spain. 5. Recommendations and follow-up Recommendations for the digitalisation in agri-food, forestry and environment During the three years of the project, many comments and observations were collected from the DIVA partners themselves, from experts mobilised in the events and workshops, and the participating SMEs with whom regular exchanges were held. At the end of the programme, a specific survey was also conducted to feedback of the beneficiaries of the DIVA funds. Based on this success and information, it is now possible to identify lessons learned and good practices for the development and deployment of digital solutions, and to formulate recommendations for the European Commission and innovative companies to encourage and improve support mechanisms targeting SMEs and innovation clusters. A 10-point summary is presented here. For the SMEs 1 - Digital innovation is not necessarily high-tech: Frugal, low-tech and organisational innovation has to be considered together with high-tech solutions, 2 - Think “smart” and not only “Big data and AI”: real “big data” situations where Artificial Intelligence can meet its full potential are not so often met in agriculture and still more common 9 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
modelling and data sciences tools with a limited and well qualified data set can bring a strong service innovation, 3 - Farmers are not the only target of the digital transformation: Many different players are part of the industrial value-chains (e.g. equipment manufacturers, input producers, logistics and transport providers, retailers) and they have specific digital needs to be addressed. 4 - Combine “IT for Green” and “Green IT”: Consider the environmental footprint of the digital solutions in the innovation process. For the EU policies 5 - Unlock the barriers to data exchange and secure data flows to exploit its valorisation potential: data is probably at the heart of the digital economy of tomorrow. Interoperability, standard of exchange, consent to exchange and consent management, are some of the key issues to handle to take full benefit of it. 6 - Promote experimentation sites and facilities, and further, living labs: Demonstration in a real environment is a key step to reach higher TRL levels of solutions. Thinking in terms of service delivered and interacting with the end-user in its socio-economic environment in a living-lab is the ultimate way to make sure to meet the real expectations. 7 - Cascade funding schemes with vouchers are particularly relevant to support innovation with SME: it gives the possibility to young businesses to benefit from a European support in an accessible, flexible and fast way avoiding the administrative burden of heavy reporting and long- lasting projects they cannot afford. 8 - There is a need for intermediate size funding schemes: 60 k€ / SME set-up as a maximum limit in Innosup projects can be enough for simple digital solutions at low TRL levels. Higher funding levels cc 300 k€ - 500 k€ are necessary for projects requiring more investment (e.g., robotics) and targeting higher TRL levels (7-8). 9 - Give the possibility by way of derogation for experimentation outside the regulatory framework: To unleash innovation and prepare future solutions (e.g. spraying with drones). 10 - Innovation clusters play a key role to reach SMEs and act as a catalyst for innovation within their ecosystems, together with intermediary organisations such as Research and Technology Transfer Organisation (RTO) and Experimentation Centres. Towards digital transformation and beyond DIVA was an opportunity to build a network of partners united by a common interest in pursuing the actions undertaken. Several partners are registered as Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) on the S3 platform (ASOI, H- Farm, CTA). Their action programme was enriched by the DIVA mechanism but continues after the end of DIVA. In addition, most of the partners are currently involved in the construction of European DIHs (e-DIHs) in the regions where they are located. Most of the time, DIVA's achievements have fed into the reflections on the scope of actions of these future structures. In addition, DIVA was able to inspire joint actions between partners. In France, Digital 113 and ASOI joined forces to respond to a Smart Agri Hub call for proposals to organise a specific event dedicated to the problems of short-distance supply. The project named FoodLog Proximity was selected and gave rise to a Hackathon on 24/10/2020 gathering about fifty actors from the Occitanie region in France. Digital 113 then launched an innovative initiative called "Digital Is Future" to promote exchange between digital players and players in the application sectors. The first edition, organised between December 2020 and February 2021, was conducted in partnership with ASOI for the agro sector. 10 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
These experiences have reinforced the need to continue the cross-fertilisation process in order to achieve a better mutual understanding of the needs and operating methods of the agri-sector on the one hand and the solutions and operating methods of the digital players on the other. Demonstration sites remain a key point for the maturation, experimentation and demonstration of new solutions. In Italy, CRPV organised a first Demoday in October 2020 at the Italian demofarm Astra where IT companies and actors from the agri-food sector were involved, with about 64 persons participating. Considering the success of this event, CRPV made the decision to reconduct this event every year from now on. In Ireland, the MoorPark and Killworth sites led by TEAGASC are now well-known sites for experimentation in dairy management and livestock farming where events take place regularly. A European community of partners and companies has been created. The DIVA partners are fully involved to push forward the actions undertaken and this dynamic will continue beyond the end of DIVA. DIVA partners will be particularly attentive to new opportunities to build a project or actions together. Horizon Europe offers interesting perspectives on certain themes such as the contribution of digital technology to agroecology. The “Smart sensors 4 agrifood” and “Traceability and big data” partnerships will be networks where partners can meet. The future Private Public Partnership “agriculture of data” and “Circular Bioeconomy Europe” will be receptacles for joint projects. All this information has been presented during the DIVA final event held on March 4th 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaXY7QHc2-A The authors Nathalie Chavrier Nicolas Nguyen The Lydia Brunault, Macarena Ureña, Sara Neves Anna Giacon, Daniele Abate, Technical agri-food Head of European European project European project Researcher at InescTec Project manager at H- Public funds project officer at CTA projects at ASOI manager at ASOI manager at CTA Farm manager at H-Farm DIVA coordinator With the collaboration of Sofia Araujo Aisling O’Connor Julien Del Rio Maria Grazia Raquel Jimenez Manuel Moreno Xenophon Tsilimparis Alexandra Xavier incubation manager Research officer Project manager at Tommasini Executive IT technical officer Communication manager Projects manager Head of center for at TecLabs at Teagasc Digital 113 manager at CRPV at Ametic at Ametic at GRNET innovation technology and entrepreneurship at InescTec 11 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 777890
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