Responding to environmental challenges in the agriculture sector, Agdatahub, Orange Business Services and SUEZ are combining their technological and digital expertise to support the Digital Transformation of agricultural industries. Sébastien Picardat, CEO, Agdatahub, Pierre-Louis Biaggi, Senior Vice President, Digital and Data, Orange Business Services and Diane Galbe, Executive Vice President of SUEZ in charge of strategy and the global Smart and Environmental Solutions Business Unit, tells Intelligent CXO more about the agreement.
Agdatahub, an operator of agricultural data exchange and consent platforms; Orange Business Services, a global network-native digital services company, and SUEZ, a major player in environmental services, are joining forces to co-construct solutions that accelerate the digital and environmental transformation of the agricultural sector.
The three companies intend to develop technologies that will enable farmers and stakeholders in the agricultural sector, as well as local authorities, to access innovative, environmentally focused solutions based on technologies and connected objects, supporting carbon capture and measurement, water quality or gas emissions in livestock farming. These solutions will allow them to benefit from programmess, such as Payments for Environmental Services, which remunerate practices that protect the environment. The partners are committed to proposing these solutions to further their corporate initiatives and industrialise their development with industry players.
Strengthening French and European food and digital sovereignty
This agreement comes at a time when the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should have three environmental objectives: to act against climate change, to protect natural resources and to preserve landscapes and biodiversity, in line with the European Green Deal. It also responds to the need to strengthen French and European food and digital sovereignty, as highlighted by the current pandemic. This partnership will bring a common vision at the European level within the Agriculture and Environment data spaces, and the GAIA-X ecosystem, in which Orange Business Services is a founding member and Agdatahub is a Day-One Member.
“Farmers are the first to be concerned by the preservation of natural resources. Coming from the agricultural sector, Agdatahub wants to secure the use of farmers’ and industry data for the benefit of more sustainable practices through its consent and data exchange platform. This partnership with Orange Business Services and SUEZ will enable us to accelerate and increase the number of use cases in the environmental field,” said Sébastien Windsor, President of Agdatahub.
Pierre-Louis Biaggi said: “We are committed to creating a positive impact in the agricultural sector by supporting the transformation of industry players and regions in their ecological transition toward an increasingly responsible economy. By joining forces with Agdatahub and SUEZ, we will accompany the agricultural sector, addressing their needs, by leveraging critical data and new technologies to accelerate their environmental transformation.”
“Faced with the many challenges that will shape the future of agriculture, the SUEZ Group is innovating to provide the agricultural sector with global and integrated solutions that will enable it to better manage resources. By combining our expertise with Agdatahub and Orange Business Services, we will contribute, together, to strengthening and accelerating the agro-environmental transition of farmers,” said Diane Galbe.
Could you tell me more about Payments for Environmental Services and what it entails?
Sébastien Picardat : Payments for Environmental Services (PES) in agriculture remunerate farmers for actions that contribute to restoring or maintaining ecosystems, for example planting, maintaining and protecting hedgerows to reduce carbon emission or reducing the use of fertilizer to improve water quality. PES can take different forms, be it monetary, gift vouchers or a reduction in costs. It could also include branding to support farms.
Which technologies will be developed?
Pierre-Louis Biaggi : Agdatahub, Orange Business Services and SUEZ want to offer technological solutions to improve the value of farmers’ work in preserving the environment. Orange Business Services will build on the development that has been done with, and for, Agdatahub to manage the digital identity of actors in the agricultural world and in business thanks to Blockchain technology.
Diane Galbe: Our complementary expertise will allow us to develop technologies to improve traceability, imagery, data treatment and analysis, and solutions such as market places, micropayments, geolocalisation or smart contracts.
How did the partnership begin?
Pierre-Louis Biaggi: Agriculture is facing environmental and digital challenges for which farmers need concrete tools to ensure their economic profitability and their environmental and social sustainability.
This requires know-how, methods and technologies which are designed and developed outside the agricultural sector by leading ‘non-agricultural’ players – particularly from the US and China. Agricultural players need support to help them use these new tools, while mastering the associated technologies.
Agdatahub, Orange Business Services and SUEZ have complementary strengths:
Agdatahub, with its business expertise in agricultural data around consent and the exchange of data, which is useful to the agricultural sector
Orange Business Services, with its technological leadership in digital services, engineering, IoT and data
SUEZ, with its leadership in the environment and digital professions
The partners share a common goal: to allow farmers and agricultural sectors to have access to innovative technological solutions for a successful agro-environmental transition.
Could you tell me more about the Agriculture and Environment Data Space and the GAIA-X ecosystem?
Sébastien Picardat: GAIA-X consists of seven vertical working groups, and agriculture and environment are key sectors. The four pillars of GAIA-X are innovation, community, sovereignty and equitable governance: all values that are essential for good agricultural data management, such as standardisation, digital identity for farms and platform interoperability.
The agricultural sector is increasingly connected (milking robots, GPS-controlled tractors, etc.) and produces a lot of data. With a view to the free circulation of data within the European area, working groups in each sector will submit recommendations to GAIA-X around how farmers consent to the use of their data. This must be respected and in line with the defence of European digital and food sovereignty.
Why is there a need to strengthen French and European food and digital sovereignty?
Diane Galbe: The France Relance plan, a roadmap for the country’s economic, social and ecological overhaul, plans to devote 1.2 billion euros to agriculture, with the aim of strengthening food sovereignty by accelerating the ecological transition and supporting agriculture and forestry in adapting to climate change. The health crisis has reminded us of the importance of food sovereignty and the strengthening of local circuits, which also help reduce the environmental impact of food production. Digital technologies, by facilitating exchanges and reinforcing traceability, are important levers to accelerate the achievement of these objectives