Information meeting with representatives of the academic community on the
Smart Farming project
The team of the Business Agency Association - Varna organized an information meeting on an international Smart Farming project related to the development of agriculture, with partners from Greece, Armenia, Romania, Georgia and Moldova. The Smart Farming project is part of the Joint Operational Program Black Sea Basin 2014 - 2020 and refers to the development and implementation of a model for preparing the conditions for ensuring digital transformation in agriculture in the Black Sea basin. The project responds to the need for a significant change in the existing conditions in all countries of the Black Sea Basin, related to the digital transformation in agriculture and related sectors around the world, which also affect the region. The digitalisation of the agricultural sector requires a transition from traditional farming to modern methods through new technologies and the project addresses the main territorial challenges in several dimensions.
The hybrid meeting was attended by representatives of the academic communities in Varna, participants from 6 local universities, journalists and those interested in the topic.
The president of the Business Agency Association, Sylvia Stumpf, appealed to those present for feedback and the expert opinion of the academy. The project will improve the capacity of the agricultural community, academia, public institutions, industry actors and entrepreneurs for cross-border trade opportunities to meet the common territorial challenges of lagging behind in modernization in the agricultural and related sectors. The meeting presented the national policies in agriculture in Bulgaria, the economic potential of small farms, the path of modernization, innovation and digital technologies in agriculture, national strategies for financing agriculture and related sectors, smart technologies and the IoT in Bulgaria and agricultural needs in the country. Smart Farming is currently developing an online platform where farmers can find information on both the digital development of the sector in the Black Sea region and useful links - for example, how a Bulgarian farmer can get funding from Armenia or how to sell its products in Georgia.
The platform will be available soon at adi-platform.com with many developed cases, thematic sections for startups, a huge database, stories of manufacturers who have relied on digital technologies, there will be an opportunity for communication. There you will also be able to find information on funding opportunities in the scope of the next programming period. The meeting ended with a discussion on the problems of the challenges in modern agriculture and how universities can get involved in it.