More than 90 people connected to the online session on Data Spaces and their applications in the agrifood sector jointly organized by Andalucía Agrotech EDIH and INNDIH - Digital Innovation Hub for the economic boost of the Valencian Community on July 18th. 

This session is part of the dissemination actions of the European Network of Digital Innovation Centers to address the data spaces and their applications in the agrifood value chain. The objective was to raise awareness among farmers, livestock farmers, companies and entities linked to the agrifood value chain about the potential of data spaces, to improve their competitiveness and sustainability. Data spaces are a strategic topic that remarks on the importance of data in advancing the digitization of the agrifood sector and the digital transition as a key element for the economic development and strategic autonomy of the EU.

In the welcome, the Head of Service of Innovation and Agri-Food Digitalization of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Manuel Teva Fernandez, and the Director of Competitive Intelligence and Partnerships Area of the Technological Institute of Informatics of Valencia, Oscar Valle Ballesteros, highlighted the importance of collaboration as one of the pillars to advance innovation and the mutual trust to generate spaces for data sharing.

Throughout the session, the speakers explained what exactly data spaces are. Thus, from GAIA-X Spain, its president, Daniel Sáez Domingo, mentioned that data space is an ecosystem where different actors share data voluntarily and securely, following common governance, organizational, regulatory and technical mechanisms. Three key remarks about data spaces:

1. The more powerful an ecosystem is the more value and sustainability.
2. The more prepared companies are the more powerful the ecosystem is.
3. The more experimentation and innovation are done the more prepared companies are.

On behalf of the University of Malaga, Professor José F. Aldana Montes, showed how European federated data spaces are key to boosting the data economy. He explained the importance of these spaces for the agrifood sector and mentioned the Common European Agricultural Data Space as a key part of the European Data Strategy. He also named different agrifood data-sharing projects and initiatives, and the future Horizon Europe Partnership on Agriculture of Data, expected to start in January 2025.

From AINIA, its Head of Strategic Business Development and Alliances, David Martínez Simarro, presented his vision on the connection between data spaces and the food field, addressing cases such as Food4One, a Digital Platform for Personalized Food.

The session ended with the case study of a concrete application related to data, models and services in the citrus value chain in Andalusia. José Emilio Guerrero Ginel, Professor of ETSIAM - University of Cordoba, explained a proposal for a federated space of data, models and services in the citrus value chain in Andalusia. This data space includes existing and potential use cases, as well as an open-source platform to build an open and sustainable ecosystem.

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More information about the organizers

Andalucia Agrotech EDIH: Andalucía Agrotech DIH – Andalucía Agrotech DIH (andaluciaagrotech.com)

INNDIH: Digital Innovation Hub for the economic boost of the Valencian Community - Inndih