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New ag-tech facility in Melbourne to explore use of AI, automation, robotics, sensor technology in farming

New ag-tech facility in Melbourne to explore use of AI

Image credit: Monash
University

Monash University is establishing
an ag-tech facility in Melbourne’s southeast with the vision to innovate new
smart farming techniques including automated harvesting and driverless vehicles
in response to the growing challenges faced by the agriculture sector.

A partnership between Monash University and Bosch Australia to
work together for driving digital agriculture innovation and build on their
respective expertise, will enable the establishment of the ag-tech launch pad
facility and accompanying development centre that will occupy one hectare at
Bosch’s headquarters in Clayton.  

The facility will house a prototypical ‘smart farm’ and will
enable collaborative industry partnerships and research. Research and development
will be conducted on cropping trials and early-stage prototype development,
enabling the use of artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and advanced
sensor technology.

Monash Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President
(Enterprise), Ken Sloan, said that the facility would leverage the University’s
close connections to industry and multidisciplinary capabilities across
Engineering, IT and Science, to drive technological advances in agriculture. The
facility is expected to become a key component of food and agricultural innovation at Monash which
already includes the Food
Innovation Centre
the
Food Incubator
, and the Australia-China Dairy Manufacturing Centre.

“With rising temperatures and rapid population growth
requiring food production to double by mid-century – it’s clear we need major
innovations in how we eat and farm. We need inventions to increase yields,
nutrient quality and sustainability of our food production to cope with the world
demand and climate. This ag-tech launch-pad could prove instrumental in driving
long-term collaborative efforts to address global food security and
significantly advance farming practices to safeguard against rising demands,”
Mr. Sloan said.

Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services,
has increasingly focused on agricultural solutions. Recently, Bosch entered
in a research collaboration with global enterprise, Bayer, to safeguard yields
by sustainably clearing weeds using “smart spraying” technology.  

In Australia, Bosch is a lead investor and technology
partner of The
Yield
, an Australian ag-tech company with a vision to use real-time microclimate
data to transform agriculture and food production practices. Bosch
Australia has also partnered
with SwarmFarm, another Australian ag-tech start-up, to provide engineering and
manufacturing services for its autonomous agricultural robotic platform.

Agriculture Victoria Research is also collaborating with
Bosch Australia on research using cloud based technologies to make the most of
data-rich smart farms for more of our producers.

Minister for Agriculture, Jaala Pulford, said, “This is a glimpse into the future of
farming in Victoria. We lead the way in both on and off farm technology
adoption and we’re proud to work closely with organisations like Bosch Australia
to give farmers the edge they deserve.”   

“This facility is
an asset and brings together some of our state’s biggest strengths:
agriculture, education, innovation, technology and advanced manufacturing,” she
added.

“More than 3,200
jobs have been created through tech investment since we were elected and it’s
great to see agtech playing a big role in our innovative economy,” commented Minister
for Innovation and the Digital Economy, Philip Dalidakis.

The Victorian Government has been driving initiatives to transform
the state into the smart farming capital of Australia. In September 2016, the Government
invested
AU$1 million into an agri-tech accelerator program SproutX at Marcus Oldham
College in Geelong. The Government has also invested AU$12 million for an
Internet-of-Things Demonstration Project. In August 2016, the Government made Electronic
Identification of Sheep and Goats mandatory
and provided
an AU$17 million
industry and farmer support package. 

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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