DAVOS, Switzerland,
Jan. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Yara International (OSE:
YAR), a global leader in crop nutrition and digital farming
solutions, and IBM (NYSE: IBM), invite farmer associations,
industry players, academia and NGOs from the food and agriculture
industry to join a movement to develop an open data exchange that
facilitates collaboration around farm and field data, with the aim
of improving the efficiency, transparency and sustainability
of global food production.
Technology and digital innovation have the potential to make a
significant contribution towards a step-change in the
sustainability, transparency, and resource efficiency of food
supply. High quality farm and field data is one of the foundations
that can help to make this possible. However, today, farm and field
data are typically dispersed, non-compatible and inaccessible.
Furthermore, there are important concerns that stand in the way of
data collaboration, such as securing the benefits of sharing data
broadly, while respecting data privacy for farmers and protecting
proprietary information.
To overcome these challenges, Yara and IBM believe a
collaborative approach is essential. The Open Farm & Field Data
Exchange aims to bring data together from various players to
address concrete issues and enable innovation. Sharing data
allows farmers to receive higher value services and to be paid in
return for sharing their data. Use of the open data exchange
platform can also make it trustful for farmers and value chain
players to meet potential regulatory requirements.
"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 customized 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," says Terje Knutsen, Yara
EVP Sales and Marketing.
Yara and IBM invite early movers from the agriculture and food
industry to jointly pilot concrete test cases and define the
principles and practicalities of data collaboration. Participants
will contribute to the development of a food ecosystem that is
designed to enable data-driven innovation, addresses changing
consumer preferences and reduces the environmental footprint of
food production.
The initiative will be building on the learnings and technology
foundation established in the context of the Yara-IBM partnership,
which was launched in 2019 as the two companies joined forces to
connect and support farmers around the world. The initial focus of
the joint work lies on farm and field data management as well as
data-driven, joint innovation for farmers, which is already
successfully launched in various markets across the world.
With the experience gained the two organizations are now aiming
to expand data-driven innovation to a broader community to help
feed a growing population in a more sustainable and
climate-friendly way, allowing the world to grow more food with a
smaller environmental footprint.
"When IBM and Yara developed the first digital farming
collaboration, we centered around a joint vision to make a real
difference in increasing global farming yields in a sustainable
way," said Mark Foster, senior vice
president, IBM Services and Global Business Services. "We believe
the agriculture industry needs to invest in exponential
technologies such as AI, IoT, and big data to help address climate
change and population growth as it threatens the world's ability to
produce enough food. Together with Yara, we are taking a major step
towards transforming the global food system by inviting all food
value chain players to join this collaborative movement to help
feed the world more efficiently and sustainably."
About Yara
Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the
planet, to fulfill our vision of a collaborative society, a world
without hunger and a planet respected. To meet these commitments,
we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for
precision farming and work closely with partners throughout the
whole food value chain to develop more climate-friendly crop
nutrition solutions. In addition, we are committed to working
towards sustainable mineral fertilizer production. We foster an
open culture of diversity and inclusion that promotes the safety
and integrity of our employees, contractors, business partners, and
society at large. Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine
in Europe, Yara has a worldwide presence with about 17,000
employees and operations in over 60 countries. In 2018, Yara
reported revenues of USD 12.9 billion. www.yara.com
About IBM
IBM believes in world-changing progress
-–that the application of intelligence, reason and science can
improve business, science and the human condition. IBM is a global
leader in the emerging, high-value segments of the IT and services
markets, including analytics, artificial intelligence, cloud,
security, blockchain, quantum computing and weather data and
technologies. We apply those exponential technologies to address
key industry opportunities -- like IBM Food Trust, the first
blockchain food safety solution that allows transaction partners to
confidently and securely share food information, creating a more
transparent and trustworthy global food supply chain. We help
businesses apply a hybrid cloud approach to move data and scale AI
and other applications across public, private and on-premise IT in
their enterprises, with consistent management and security
protocols, using open source technology and Red Hat. We further
integrate leading technology and IBM's advanced R&D to
transform businesses into cognitive enterprises. We deliver
sustained value for clients that make a difference in the real
world. For further information about IBM please visit
www.ibm.com/services
For more information, please contact:
Yara International:
Stefan Fürnsinn, SVP
Digital Farming,
Phone: +49 16097951531,
E-mail: stefan.fuernsinn@yara.com
Yara media contact: Josiane
Kremer, Director External Communications
Phone: +47 48180451, E-mail:
josiane.kremer@yara.com
IBM media contact: Jeannine Kilbride, IBM External
Relations
jkilbir@us.ibm.com, Mobile: +1 860-997-6277
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