The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development of the Andalusian Regional Government, through Andalusia Agrotech DIH, coordinates the new Interreg Spain-Portugal Cooperation Project (POCTEP) Iberia Agrotech Hub Plus (HIBA+) for the consolidation and strengthening of the HIBA network for the sustainability and digital transformation of the agri-food chain in Spain and Portugal. Starting from January 1, 2024, the Andalusian administration, along with eleven other entities from both countries, mostly represented by stakeholders of the S3P Traceability & Big Data Thematic Partnership, will work to promote digitization through services to SMEs and micro-enterprises, with a special focus on agri-food companies.

With a duration of two years and a budget close to three million euros, this initiative will rely on the European Digital Innovation Hubs in Andalusia, Galicia, and Extremadura, along with other key agents in the digital transformation processes of the agri-food value chain, to drive the construction of a structure based on the collaboration mechanisms initiated in HIBA to provide stability to the operational functioning of the network.

In addition, actions will be taken in terms of awareness and active detection of needs in the agri-food sector regarding digitization. Training will once again be a central pillar of the project, expanding and complementing the actions carried out in the previous project, such as the E-LearningData platform.

Another area of work will be the promotion of strategic initiatives in data valorization, allowing for key demonstrations for the sector in terms of decision-making utilities. At the same time, this proposal includes actions to support and accompany co-creation and the search for funding options for initiatives arising from demonstrative environments.

In the field of open innovation, a program of digital challenges will continue to be promoted to address challenges in the agri-food sector, as well as to energize the entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing technical support for the implementation of initiatives and mentoring new proposals and solutions to accelerate their arrival in the market with the aim of retaining talent in the region.