Project title: IOA – Internet of Agriculture
Project duration: July 1, 2019 – October 31, 2022

IoA – Internet of Agriculture: Wireless Solutions for Digital Farming is a project within the strategic initiative “Agrobusiness & Food.” It promotes innovation in SMEs through cooperative research and development, as well as strengthening long-term, cross-border networks of expertise, connections, and synergies between companies, research institutions, and development centers. This cross-border pooling of expertise enables effective value creation in the growing market for smart farming, IoT wireless technologies, and specialized sensors in border regions.

The central objectives pursued in the project concern:

• Better utilization of agricultural production – efficient farm management and more effective cultivation
• Optimization of high-quality and sustainable agrological concepts – improved documentation, resource, yield and harvest management
• Precise production through the application of high-quality environmental technologies – resource efficiency, occupational safety and quality assurance in the production of agricultural goods
• Promoting resource efficiency – saving water and raw materials
• Cross-over to the “High-tech Systems and Materials (HTSM)” sector – application of new technologies, promotion of digitalization processes in agriculture (“Farming 4.0”)

The increased innovative capacity in the border region, demonstrated by the new products, contributes to boosting competitiveness, securing existing jobs, and creating new ones. These new products open up additional sales markets, which are then quickly established by the region’s innovative companies. To achieve these goals, RheWaTech, the project’s lead partner, is utilizing the open-source system farmOS, which is being adapted to specific requirements, in consultation with the other project partners.

Other companies and institutions from the agricultural sector were invited as associated partners at an early stage of the project to exchange knowledge and experience, thus creating a sustainable network of expertise that extends beyond the project itself.