The Knowledge Hub for the Digitalization of Agriculture

The Knowledge Hub will carry out extensive and systematic international and national foresight. The monitoring will be coordinated by the leader of the Knowledge Hub and divided into different areas such as digital technology related to crop production, animal husbandry and machinery. An important part of each of these areas will also be how digital technologies are used to support decision-making. In addition to focusing on different areas, the environmental scan will also touch on different levels from research down to the farmer's application of the technology in daily work. In order to be able to carry out a comprehensive survey both vertically in different areas and horizontally at different levels, the organizations included in the expert network will be assigned different areas for which they are responsible. The leader of the knowledge hub will be responsible for coordinating the work of the business intelligence and ensuring that it is comprehensive without any knowledge gaps.

Monitoring and scanning of technologies
This means systematically scanning what digital technologies are available at the start of the knowledge hub and then monitoring different areas over time for ongoing capture of digital news. This is done by following media e.g. the main journals in the field, talking to technology experts in different fields and attending conferences, fairs, seminars etc. where new technologies are presented.

Monitoring and scanning includes locating what technologies are available in different parts of the world. This also includes taking a position on whether this technology would be suitable in Sweden and monitoring when this technology becomes relevant to the Swedish market.

Analysis of the business intelligence
As part of the business intelligence exercise, the value of the new technology being localized is analyzed. The experts in the network of experts responsible for the business intelligence exercise will provide an analysis based on critical questions such as

1. What can this technology contribute to agriculture?
2. What problems can they solve?
3. is the technology robust?
4. Is it suitable for the conditions we have in Sweden? (e.g. growing conditions)
5. Does it work with current legislation? (e.g. animal welfare law, laws for autonomous vehicles)
6. What would need to change in our regulations or laws for the technology to be used?

These questions will also be jointly discussed by the experts in the expert network during the joint meetings.

Best practice and practice analysis
It is important that the Knowledge Hub is close to the primary producers and works to develop knowledge that really works and that addresses the needs of primary production and advisory services. In the Knowledge Hub, we will therefore compile and meta-analyze best practice research, trials and tests, i.e. what shows safe results in repeated trials and which is superior compared to other things that are tested.

The ten farmers who are part of the reference network will also play a crucial role in the practice analysis. On the one hand, these farmers can share their own experiences, and on the other hand, they can participate as operational experts in the tests and development projects on digital technologies that will be carried out within the knowledge hub as part of the practical analysis. For the implementation of practical analysis, there are also five test and development farms currently used by Agtech Sweden, which can also be used for testing and development within the Knowledge Hub.

Analysis of scientific research
The sub-activity aims at interpreting data and results from research in digital technologies in order to translate them into concrete benefits for the farmer through the expert network. The pedagogical expert, as well as the leader of the knowledge hub, are well-qualified researchers with long experience as experts in interpreting results from scientific articles, reports, research conferences, research trials, etc. The expert network also includes researchers from SLU. These researchers will therefore provide important support for the expert network.

The analysis of scientific research will be coordinated by the pedagogical expert and the manager.

The needs analysis will be carried out in several ways and the work will be shared between the different actors of the expert network.

Identify needs for digital technology through workshops, surveys and interviews
The expert network consists of four advisor organizations (Växa Sverige, Gård och Djurhälsan, Ludvig & Company and Lovang Lanbrukskonsult). They are tasked with conducting an ongoing dialogue with the farmers they advise and compiling the needs for digital technology and problems linked to digital technology that emerge from advisory conversations and activities organized within the organizations. Through these dialogues and compilations, a reliable picture of the needs expressed by farmers in different production branches is created. Växa Sverige, which is Sweden's largest livestock association and has a nationwide advisory organization with 600 members, will be given special responsibility for coordinating the work of the advisor organizations.

Analyzing problems related to existing digital technologies
The Knowledge Hub will not only work on monitoring and compiling new technologies that can lead to improvements and solutions to problems for farmers and advisors. Today, there is already a huge amount of digital technology used in agriculture but this is not always without problems. On the one hand, there are challenges in terms of user-friendliness, which means that much of the digital technology built into machines is not used, and on the other hand there are problems with robustness. These can include software bugs or technical equipment that cannot cope with the harsh agricultural environment. To overcome these problems, technologies need to be developed that are safe, robust, sustainable and affordable. Part of the Knowledge Hub's work will therefore focus on identifying and analyzing the problems associated with digital technology and, based on these analyses, designing advice and support for how these problems can be solved. The analyses may also include various tests of existing digital technology.

Feeding back the results of the scans through seminars, meetings and training courses
As mentioned, the knowledge gained from the scouting will be fed back very actively and in several different ways, e.g. in the form of various reports and popular science texts, as well as through social media and newsletters. The results of the knowledge search will also be fed back to the industry through seminars, meetings and training lectures and participation in various events. The reference groups and the expert network will have a very important role in feeding back the results of the scans through their various channels. When feeding back the results of the scoping exercise, it will be important to carry out an analysis with the industry of the results of the scoping exercise, the analysis will be about whether the knowledge is "packaged" in an appropriate way so that it is accessible to the industry, whether it is relevant and how the industry views the digital technology presented.

Analysis of scientific research

We will coordinate the Knowledge Hub both through formalized processes and informal processes. Regular meetings will take place with all expert organizations as well as with the reference groups (and the Swedish Board of Agriculture). To a large extent, the office will be a helpdesk for all partners in the knowledge hub, but dialogues will also be systematized during workshops and other meetings. Furthermore, the activities through the accompanying researcher will constantly analyze results in relation to goals and intentions.

The academy
Part of the Knowledge Hub's activities involves working at the interface between academia and industry. There is a lot of valuable knowledge in academia that could be useful in agriculture. The coordination and dialogue linked to academia is thus, from our perspective, about managing the flow of knowledge and ideas in both directions and strengthening the link between agricultural practice and academia. The knowledge hub includes two major academic actors: Linköping University and SLU, both of which contain a very large number of departments, knowledge areas and people conducting research.

The business sector
Coordinating processes related to the business community is about being able to deal with different corporate cultures and special conditions that prevail in each company. Therefore, we make sure that meetings and other activities are structured and of a high level that leads to new knowledge for all involved. We believe that it is also important to be involved in the companies, but we will also create workshops and forums for dialogues with business actors.

Other knowledge hubs
It is important for our knowledge hub to create a fruitful exchange with other knowledge hubs that the Swedish Board of Agriculture has established or will establish. We believe it is good to create a cooperation model with joint activities between the hubs and to benefit from each other's competencies and hope to be able to collaborate on both joint tests, business intelligence and communication efforts.

Other platforms
The Digital Knowledge Hub will operate broadly across the nation. An important part of the coordination and dialogue is therefore also about connecting to other platforms alongside the knowledge hub. Fortunately, we already have established collaborations and dialogues with several such platforms, such as Sweden Food Arena, the National Compass for Food, Drink and the Local Food Chain, the National Network for the Common Agricultural Policy (Landsbygdsnätverket), Krinova, Vreta Kluster and AgroÖst (to name a few). But we also believe there is reason to weave in some international platforms as well. In this context, we have already signed cooperation agreements with BCE Biocluster (Norway) and The European Region for Innovation in Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ERIAFF).

The Knowledge Hub's expert network is extensive and together we operate across the country, this gives us great opportunities to collaborate with many different platforms and networks outside the hub. The coordination of these collaborations will be divided both geographically and in terms of content between the actors in the Hub.

There is concern among farmers about investing in or otherwise adopting new digital technologies. There is good reason for this concern. New digital technologies are often associated with problems and bugs, and farmers talk about the problem of connecting different systems to each other. So there is a need for commercially independent actors to whom agricultural professionals can turn for objective advice on technology issues. Today, both farmers and advisors are largely in the hands of actors who directly or indirectly represent manufacturers of the technological options available. Therefore, Sweden's farmers need a function that captures and structures national experiences of applied digital agricultural technology.

Testing digital tools
Tools refer to physical digital technologies such as sensors for digitizing animal houses, terminals for precision farming, autonomous and digitally controlled field robots. We will benefit from the development farms linked to the hub as well as the 10 farmers linked to the hub. When it comes to physical digital technology, the tests will not only be about function as experienced at first impression of it, but we will also initiate tests that take place over a longer period of time and where the technology is exposed to the environmental factors that characterize agriculture, ie weather and wind (not least moisture and temperature), shocks and blows or dust. To conserve financial resources, the tests will also include interviews with farmers who have used certain physical digital technologies for a long time.

Testing digital services
By digital services we mean digital technologies that do not primarily involve physical products, but rather things like cloud services with various software for, for example, precision farming or control of livestock indoors or on natural pastures. Not least, decision support systems based on cloud services. The tests will be carried out by actors in the expert network in collaboration with our development farms and our 10 reference farmers. But we will also systematically capture the experiences of a wider range of farmers through interviews and other methods. In this context, it is important to include a diversity of farmers, e.g. digitally accustomed vs. digitally unaccustomed, older vs. younger people, women vs. men, etc.

Evaluating digital tools
The focus will be on digital tools that are available on the market, but we will also test prototypes and promote the creation of new research and development projects for new digital solutions that can have a positive impact on the industry. As part of this, the knowledge hub will, among other things, keep track of relevant calls and help bring together actors for research projects and provide support in writing applications for calls.

Evaluating digital services
As mentioned, we will test and evaluate technologies in a user context. We are inspired by the Farmtest, which is well established in Denmark. It involves something less complex than a research project. For example, there is no requirement for repetition, but it is more of a product test. Another difference between farm tests and regular research is the speed. The risk with larger research projects is that products included in the projects may disappear from the market before the results are ready. In terms of analytical dimensions for digital services, we intend to use the same as indicated in the section above.

An important part of the knowledge hub's work will be to refine, package and disseminate knowledge in formats that are suitable for different target groups and that are widely distributed through different channels. In order for the knowledge to be relevant to actors operating in different parts and at different levels of the chain, the packaging and dissemination of knowledge will be divided into the following four parts.

In-depth reports
In-depth reports are about compiling and analyzing the digital technologies captured in the network of experts. It also involves writing research reports or scientific papers based on the results of the tests and trials that will take place within the Knowledge Hub. The responsibility for these in-depth reports will be shared between the experts in the Expert Network and the Secretariat.

Simple reports and training materials
The main focus of the Knowledge Hub is to convey knowledge that is packaged in a way that it is accessible and relevant to all audiences regardless of digital maturity. For this, we will produce reports that are written in a simpler way, but that do not compromise on relevant and deep knowledge content. Once a month, the network of experts will meet to share their business intelligence and analysis. For each such meeting, the members of the expert network will submit a summary of their findings from the scans. This will be packaged by the pedagogical expert in consultation with the expert network into an accessible report to be widely disseminated through all the channels covered by the knowledge hub. In addition to these reports, the pedagogical expert, together with people from the expert network, will design training materials in various areas that aim to lead to increased knowledge of digital technology in agriculture in an educational and clear way. These training materials can be aimed at primary producers, but they can also be training materials aimed at actors outside agriculture who lack knowledge of how agriculture works today and the extensive amount of digital technology available in agriculture. This may include technology companies, the general public and researchers who need to increase their knowledge in this area in order to generate ideas for new projects that can contribute to transition and system change.

The website
The Knowledge Hub will be an independent organization within Linköping University and will thus have its own website. The website will be important both for communication from the Knowledge Hub and for people from outside to get in touch with the Knowledge Hub. The website should be alive and be a source of knowledge that provides broad information about digital technology linked to agriculture. It should therefore not only inform about what is happening within the knowledge hub itself, but also be able to act as a connecting link for various actors, hubs, platforms, projects, etc. that are working with digital technology in agriculture. Everyone in the expert network, as well as the people in the reference groups, have the task of conveying information to the communicator for publication on the website. There should also be a collaboration between the communicator working at the Knowledge Hub office and the communicators of the different actors in the Hub's expert network, so that the organizations can help each other to disseminate and collect relevant information and knowledge via their respective websites.

Social media and newsletters
In order to get a wide dissemination and reach out to different actors, the knowledge hub will also actively work with dissemination on social media. The Communications Department at Linköping University has extensive experience of strategies for reaching different target groups via social media, these strategies will form the basis for us to reach as many different target groups as possible and get a wide dissemination via social media. To achieve impact via social media, it is important to both convey interesting content and to have a sufficiently large flow. The communicator in the knowledge hub will, together with the business manager and communication experts from LiU, set up a plan for the work with social media so that it takes place in a well-thought-out and structured way, as this will be an important channel outwards.