The Open Data Exchange, from Yara and IBM could address the complexity of today’s food system, where every farm plays an important role in meeting global food demand
Image: Yara, IBM launch new platform for data exchange in the agriculture sector. (Credit: IBM/PR Newswire)
Yara International, a Norwegian chemical and fertiliser company, and IBM have launched a new open collaboration platform for farm and field data to advance sustainable food production.
Yara and IBM have also invited farmer associations, industry players, academia and NGOs from the food and agriculture industry to join a movement for developing an open data exchange to collaborate on farm and field data for efficient, transparent and sustainable food production around the world.
The new initiative will build on the learnings from last year’s Yara-IBM partnership, where the two companies joined hands to connect and support farmers around the world.
By introducing the Open Farm & Field Data Exchange, the two companies aim to bring together data from several players to address concrete issues, while enabling innovation.
The data exchange platform can be made trustful by offering high-value services
By sharing data, farmers can also receive higher-value services and can also be paid in return for sharing their data. Such use of open data exchange can also make it trustful for farmers and other players in the value chain and in meeting potential regulatory requirements.
Yara sales and marketing executive vice president Terje Knutsen said: “It is our collective responsibility to overcome siloes and work together to bring innovation to the way we produce food. The transition towards a more sustainable food system requires data-driven customised solutions for every field and farm.
“Trusted data sharing is one key element where we can jointly make a difference which will benefit all, from farmers all the way to end consumers.”
Yara and IBM are inviting players from the agriculture and food industry to move and jointly pilot test cases and define the principles and practicalities of data collaboration.
Such participants will also contribute to the development of a food ecosystem designed to enable data-driven innovation, address changing consumer preferences, while reducing the environmental footprint of food production.