modernAKIS aims to improve AKIS actors’ capacities to leverage individual, organizational and systemic resources needed for the transformation towards more coherent, effective and efficient AKIS systems and the transition to a more sustainable management and use of natural resources in farming and forestry. To this end it will build and foster a European network of at least 1.000 key AKIS actors, including AKIS coordination bodies, from all EU MS, who will act as linchpins in the transformation of the AKIS systems towards a more effective governance and the modernization of the European agri-food sector. The project will also build the capacities of these key AKIS actors towards systems understanding and engagement, enabling them to enact long-term system changes that will improve the AKIS. In addition, it will set up at least 1 Community of Practice in each Member State, enabling thus participants to act as vectors of change in their communities. In addition, modernAKIS will provide a comprehensive digital catalogue with new know-how, and at least 80 tools and methods supporting key AKIS actors to improve the knowledge flows and develop a well-functioning AKIS in line with relevant policy objectives, e.g the Green Deal, Farm2Fork, SDGs.

Electronic data generation, analytics and communication technologies potentially enable more accurate, faster and better decision-making on farms, with huge potential to improve agricultural sustainability. There is a major focus on digitisation by EU and national/regional policy-makers to ensure that digital innovation in agriculture keeps pace with other sectors and the benefits of digitisation are available to the wider farming community. However, there is a danger that digitisation and future innovations will be hampered unless the rural advisory community is mobilised to take ownership of digital tools and to advocate at the user interface. This CSA will engage, enable and empower the independent farm advisor community, through sharing of tools, expertise and motivations. FAIRshare has two main programmes. Firstly, WPs 1, 2 and 3 will gather an evidence base of the digital tools and services used internationally, leveraging the social networks of partner institutions that span EU and non-EU countries. The inventory of tools will be accessible to end-users on an intuitively navigable online interface that has been co-designed using a multi-actor approach. Accompanying the tools in the online inventory will be information, for instance short ‘good practice’ vignettes, on how the tools may be used/adapted for use. Secondly, WPs 4, 5 and 6 will generate and resource a participatory ‘living laboratory’, empowering advisor peers from across the EU to interact with the online inventory and, in a series of workshops, to exchange, co-adapt, co-design and apply digital tools. The FAIRshare 'living lab’ will enable advisors to address challenges to embedding digital tools in different advisory and farming contexts across the EU. Special focus will be on co-designing powerful communication and engagement approaches for advisors to advocate and inspire their peers and farmer clients, driving a social movement for the wider and better use of digital tools.

THE CONTEXTThe farming sector has never stopped innovating and every generation brings new technological and organisational improvements and competencies. However, the pace of technological innovation is proceeding faster than ever before, and it is important to ensure that EU farmers take full advantage of this “digital revolution”. Policy advisors underline that the main concern for farmers is access to training and that this should be considered especially from a small farm perspective otherwise Europe will fail to maximise the benefits of digital technology.MAIN OBJECTIVEThe SFIB project will be implemented by 8 complementary project partners from 5 countries and focus on minding the gap between current farming industry digitization trends and the digital & smart technology era. The project wants to open a way to a new digital and technology innovation-oriented training method in the farming industry by combining the “Innovation Broker” approach in the farming sector with the current efforts put in place by the EU in the field of “Digital Innovation Hubs”.TARGET GRUPS AND PARTICIPANTS1) Owners, Managers, operations and technical staff of SMEs of the farming sector2) Cluster & Technical Service and Coaching staff, Thematic Business Consultants, Trainers of Cluster & Sectorial Organizations3) Technical Service and Coaching Staff, Consultants of Technology Parks, Business Development Centres, Digital Innovation Hubs4) Policy officers, Technical staff involved in defining innovation and training strategies, policies & action plans of Economic Development Bodies 5) Directors, Teaching staff, Learners & students, Phds of VET and Higher Education institutions6) Innovation brokersNEEDSA) RAISE & INCREASE AWARENESS about the potential of digital and smart farming potential B) OBSERVE & UNDERSTAND TECHNOLOGY AT WORK thus facilitating digitization and smart tech understandingC) IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF DIGITAL INNOVATION LEARNING APPROACHES by introducing a new professional figure and new cooperation-based learning mechanisms targeted to the farming sectorE) Guarantee the AVAILABILITY OF CONNECTED TRANSNATIONAL INNOVATION LEARNING STRUCTURES that will facilitate the distributed availability WORKING METHODThe project has been designed around 8 workpackages.WP 1 - Management – Indicator: Project implemented respecting time and qualityWP2 - Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation – Indicators: 1) Extended stakeholder base (including Innovation Brokers and DIHs), 2) Extended interested final beneficiaries, 3) Project anchored to professional training policiesWP3 - SMART TECH-MAP: M2-M5, focused on Intellectual Output 1 to answer the need “RAISE & INCREASE AWARENESS about the potential of digital and smart farming potential”. Indicators: 1) Increased knowledge about farming smart technology trends, 2) Increased knowledge level about knowledge gaps in the farming sectorWP4 – DIGITAL INNO BROKER MAP: M6-M8, focused on Intellectual Output 2 to answer the need “RAISE & INCREASE AWARENESS about the potential of digital and smart farming potential”. Indicator: 1) Consolidated network of Innovation BrokersWP5 – DIGITAL INNOVATION HUBS FOR SMART FARMING: M9-M12, focused on Intellectual Output 3 to answer 2 needs: “RAISE & INCREASE AWARENESS about the potential of digital and smart farming potential” and “OBSERVE & UNDERSTAND TECHNOLOGY AT WORK thus facilitating digitization and smart tech understanding”. Indicator: 1) Consolidated network of DIHsWP6 – SMART TECH & DIGITAL INNOVATION BROKERS: COMPETENCE PROFILE: M13-M18, focused on Intellectual Output 4 to answer 2 needs: “IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF DIGITAL INNOVATION LEARNING APPROACHES” and “Guarantee the AVAILABILITY OF CONNECTED TRANSNATIONAL INNOVATION LEARNING STRUCTURES”. Indicators: 1) Available Competence profile of the Digital Innovation Broker, 2) Available Training Method, Package & Tools, 3) Cooperation Agreements between Innovation Brokers and DIHsWP7 – SMART TECH & DIGITAL READINESS & INNOVATION TRAINING: INCREASING THE FARMING INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL: M19-M30, focused on Intellectual Output 5 to complete the answer to the 2 above needs “IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF DIGITAL INNOVATION LEARNING APPROACHES” and “Guarantee the AVAILABILITY OF CONNECTED TRANSNATIONAL INNOVATION LEARNING STRUCTURES”. Indicators: 1) Available digital readiness assessment tool for the farming sector, 2) Available Smart Tech & Digital Readiness TrainingWP8 – SHARE, VALIDATE AND TRANSFER EVIDENCES: M31-M36 focused on Intellectual Output 6 to answer the need “Guarantee the AVAILABILITY OF CONNECTED TRANSNATIONAL INNOVATION LEARNING STRUCTURES”Indicators: 1) Available list of extended stakeholders, 2) Completed Transfer Sessions, 3) Increased number of interested rural / regional areas in our method, 4) Method transferred to other EU areas.

SmartAgriHubs is dedicated to accelerate the digital transformation of the European agri-food sector. It will consolidate, activate and extend the current ecosystem by building a network of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) that will boost the uptake of digital solutions by the farming sector. This will be achieved by integrating technology and business support in a local one-stop-shop approach involving all regions and all relevant players in Europe. The heart of the project is formed by 28 flagship innovation experiments demonstrating digital innovations in agriculture, facilitated by DIHs from 9 Regional Clusters including all European member states. Concurrently, SmartAgriHubs will improve the maturity of innovation services of DIHs so that digital innovations will be replicated across Europe and widely adopted by European farmers. A lean multi-actor approach focusing on user acceptability, stakeholder engagement and sustainable business models will boost technology and market readiness levels and bring user adoption to the next level. This will be enhanced by synergetic effects between SmartAgriHubs and RIS3, since SmartAgriHubs will work in lock step with European regions to maximize the return of European investments, including regional structural funds and private capital. Open Calls with a total budget of ±6 M€ will expand the network and ensure that technological developments and emerging challenges of the agri-food sector are incorporated in the DIH service portfolio. SmartAgriHubs’ inclusive structure and ambitious targets will bring the entire European ecosystem together, connecting the dots to ensure global leadership for Europe in the AgTech market. The consortium, led by Wageningen Research and other partners of previous key projects such as IoF2020, FIWARE, S3P Agri-Food and I4MS, will leverage the existing ecosystem and guarantee a maximum ROI for European taxpayers and a vital agri-food sector producing adequate and safe food for future generations.

The EU has set a target of reaching at least 25% organic farmland by 2030, which requires a tripling of the current organic area and the entry of 700,000 new farmers into the organic sector. This calls for easy access to reliable knowledge about organic practices, as well as the creation of innovations. Organic advisory services are essential to achieve this, and there is a need for 10,000-20,000 organic advisers in the EU to serve these farmers. The overall objective of the project is to co-create an EU-wide network of 1000 organic advisors that will exchange knowlegde and provide mutual support, covering all 27 EU Member States and 7 other European countries. The network will cover both plant production and animal husbandry. It will embrace the diversity of organic advisory services offered by private and publication organisations or self-employed professionals. An Action Plan will be created to ensure the long-term continuation of the network, laying down a governance structure and identifying future funding streams. Exchange will take place in online community spaces and in-person events. Online learning activities will be offered to increase technical and soft skills of advisors, both newcomers in the sector as well as more experienced organic advisors. Based on an analysis of drivers and barriers, the project will empower organic advisors to improve capacity of their organisations and promote the creation of organic advisory services where they do not exist yet. Successful business models of structuring and financing organic advisory services will be assessed. The outcomes of the project will be disseminated to actors within and beyond the organic community. Finally, synergies will be created with other EU projects and policy makers will be engaged to foster long-term support for the network itself and for organic advisory services in all parts of Europe.