About

Smart Agro Hub, a competence center in the field of smart farming, is a new, ambitious and dynamic initiative of the Agricultural University of Athens in collaboration with innovative Greek companies in agro-technology, supply chain, circular economy, energy and digital technologies. Our vision is to play a key role in the transition of Greek agriculture to the new digital era, while creating new business opportunities in the agri-food sector. Smart Agro Hub approaches Greek agriculture in a unique and innovative way. It creates bridges between agro-technology companies, agricultural inputs and agricultural services, with the academic and research institutions towards the digital transformation of the sector. Apart from the Agricultural University of Athens in SmartAgroHub participating the following industrial partners: Scientact AE, Geosense, Agrospecom, Agenso, Industry Disruptors – Game Changers, ΜES Energy ΑΕ, TCB SA, Specisoft M. AE, Magma, Καλλίον ΓΗ, Karvelas ΑΒΕΕ, New Agriculture New Generation

Solution & Product

The most essential part of digital agriculture is not just the technologies it encompasses, but also the scientific knowledge which is encoded in these technologies in the form of DSS (decision support systems) models, and even more how all these tools are effectively used in the field operations. In order to achieve the essential and effective implementation of smart farming in the Greek crops, these DSS models must be adapted to the Greek soil-climatic conditions and crop cultivars. Moreover, Greek farmers should have the opportunity to actually use these digital tools in order to have a real impact to the primary production and consequently to the whole agri-food chain. SmartAgroHub will develop a holistic smart farming platform which will be evaluated and tested experimentally before launch in the market in the experimental facilities and farms of Agricultural University of Athens. Sustainability assessment with focus on environmental impact assessment through the life cycle approach will be another important business pilar of SmartAgroHub. Last but not least, SmartAgrohub based on the experience of its partners and the scientific and research background of Agricultural University of Athens is aiming to provide section of experimental farms as experiment as a service.

Innovation & Scalability

Smart Agro Hub, in order to effectively contribute to the elimination of the weaknesses hindering the spread of digital technologies in agriculture, focuses on the areas where there is a real need, namely: - Brings into action existent experimental and demonstration facilities, to enable the development and adaptation of smart farming DSS models to the soil and climatic conditions in Greece and local crop varieties - Raises awareness in digital agriculture and training activities for producers and agricultural consultants. - Facilitates the orientation of academic research towards digital agriculture and its specialization for Greek agriculture intricacies and needs. - Promotes the spreading of sustainability certification systems and innovates in the creation of new and reliable measurement systems and sustainable indicators monitoring in the agri-food chain. - Contributes to the digital standardization systems creation, facilitating the dissemination and interoperability of digital knowledge and data management tools of Greek agriculture.

Traction & achievements

SmartAgoHub has been funded by the National Secretary for Research and innovation (www.gsri.gr) in the framework of Competence Centers call. Being also very active and successful in EU and local grants preparation and implementation, the company funds its RnD activities enabling its innovate concepts reaching the market. So far, the company has ensured its participation in 2 Horizon Europe projects, WATSON and EXCEL4MED, and one Digital Europe, TRUSTFOOD. At the same time we have a strong network of professors, researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators in the agrifood sector, with which we develop competitive Horizon Europe proposals, that will further fund our company's research activities.

Team & Why Us

Smart Agro Hub has full-fledged division and expertise on project management, capacity building, market linkage and stakeholders’ involvement. Due to the consolidated relationships with the local agricultural ecosystem of farmers, agronomists, agricultural research centers, companies and service providers operating in this field, Smart Agro Hub is capable to offer consulting services and technological solutions devoted to digitalization of agricultural processes. The synergies is a crucial part of our mission. We invite scientists and researchers in the agriculture and technology fields to stay tuned with our communication channels, where they will find interesting, specialized tools and activities. At the same time, professionals and companies in the agri-food sector will discover technological and commercial solutions as well as synergistic initiatives regarding the digital and smart farming. Our participation in 3 EU funded prestigious research projects even though we were establishes just one year ago highlights our will to be part of the pan-European effort for the digital transformation of the European agrifood sector.

Funding Needs

We are keen to discuss any potential interest for funding opportunity for scaling up more quickly our business plan. Regarding Horizon Europe or national grands, the possible roles Smart Agro Hub can undertake in a EU funded or national research project are the following: • Set up a pilot / use case by engaging the SAH experimental facilities to produce datasets through experimentation and parameterize a complete digital twin for specific cultivars; • Assess the environmental, financial and societal impact of the proposed technologies using Life Cycle Analysis; • Strong dissemination and communication of the project results exploiting the company’s established network, organising raising awareness campaigns, and clustering with prestigious research projects and initiatives; • Develop tailored exploitation and innovation management strategies paving the way for products commercialization • Organise capacity building and knowledge transfer activities including one-on-one or group training, whether face-to-face or online, improving target audiences' knowledge and skills. The Smart Agro Hub proposal development team can contribute to the writing of the proposal by ✓ writing / reviewing the impact section ✓ writing / reviewing parts of sections 1 & 3 ✓ writing SAH’s contribution and corresponding WP ✓ bringing to the consortium valuable partners from the agrifood industry.