ILVO and DjustConnect pull off first transnational Data Space
Flemish DjustConnect (ILVO), French Agdatahub and Finnish Tritom (DataSpace Europe & 1001 Lakes) build bridge for international data sharing.
Companies in agrifood are operating digitally and internationally, their data flows need to follow. Three existing data sharing platforms from Belgium, Finland and France are joining forces and building the first ramps to a European Agriculture Data Space: DjustConnect (Flanders), DataSpace Europe (Finland) and Agdatahub (France). On 18 June 2024 during ILVO's Agritechdag in Melle (Belgium), they will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to that end.
The European Agricultural Data Space should unburden farmers, food companies and technology players across national borders in sharing (agri-food) data, by enabling efficient and fairly regulated connections between participants. A first success story is already being written, with Belgian potato machinery manufacturer AVR.
Belgian potato machinery maker AVR has for a long time been working on smart technology in its harvesters. A lot of data is collected during the harvesting process, e.g. about the plot, potato variety, yield, soil conditions, etc. Specialised apps can combine this data into useful, up-to-date farming advice on fertilisation, harvest timing and storage conditions. But AVR sells its machines worldwide, including in places where farmers and contractors use software packages connected to a data-sharing platform in their region.
Finnish and French farmers who use an AVR harvester in their fields want to be able to consult data from it, for example in the French farm management platform MyEasyFarm. Thanks to the digital bridges between the 3 data sharing platforms, DjustConnect, Tritom and AgDataHub, these farmers can now arrange this easily and securely in their familiar, local data environment. For the companies, too, such as AVR and MyEasyFarm, this means a relief.
Koen Uyttenhove, from Belgian AVR: ‘Before, we had to contact data sharing platforms from our customers’ countries and do additional technical developments ourselves, whereas we already have an API connection with DjustConnect. From now on, the data sharing platforms in the regions communicate with each other themselves. As for the security of and control over the data, the same guarantees will continue to apply.’
Data sharing platforms indispensable for apps
A data-sharing platform is a digital highway that ensures, via powerful software, that large amounts of data collected by and for farmers, among others, are easily, quickly, automatically and correctly transported (i.e. not stored) to certain companies that can work with that data. The latter can only use and combine the shared data in their digital apps after the farmer has given separate electronic permission for each use.
One bridge for all data is the goal
No fewer than 80 data-sharing platforms in the agri-food sector have emerged in Europe in recent years. These serve data traffic between local players and act as regional data spaces. Getting across borders has so far been difficult. For individual companies, it requires the right contacts, multiple (expensive) connections with multiple platforms, each with different technical regulations, contracts and ways of working. Farmers also prefer to be helped by the platform in their own region, so as not to have to learn to work with even more systems, and to maintain overview and trust.
Stephanie van Weyenberg, Manager of DjustConnect (ILVO): ‘The most logical solution is that a company or farmer only needs to use one data-sharing platform, and that the necessary bridges are built at platform level. Such a bridge ensures interoperability between the different technologies of each platform so that the different systems can work together seamlessly.’
The first bridges between the three data sharing platforms have now been built, but that does not mean the job is finished.
Stephanie van Weyenberg, ILVO: ‘Scalability is ingrained, precisely because it is so crucial for a data-sharing platform. But conversely, of course we are also very keen to get data in from the other platforms and be able to offer it to our DjustConnect users, Flemish app-builders for example. Of course, we don't want to limit ourselves to cooperation with these two countries either. Our companies operate internationally across the whole of Europe, data traffic should follow just as smoothly.’
The European Data Strategy
Many extensions are already possible, and there appears to be a lot of demand for connections between data-sharing platforms. Europe fully supports this approach: With its Data Strategy, it wants to accelerate the data economy. First of all, by making much more data accessible within so-called data spaces. Within thematically clustered data spaces, companies and individuals can share data, access and process data, fully in line with EU rules and legislation. For the agriculture and food sector, we talk about the AgriDataSpace.
Sébastien Picardat: ‘That's why we, as Agdatahub, are equally happy with these 1st collaborations. This way we can show together that it can be done and how it can be done. Our aim is to work even more closely with ILVO and DataSpace Europe. And to scale up the collaboration from there to other data sharing platforms throughout AgriDataSpace. This is why we have committed to a new European initiative together with more than 30 other partners in Europe in which we propose to roll out this European common agricultural data space.’
Tailored
DjustConnect, Tritom and Agdatahub are not at all the only data-sharing platforms in Europe. Although their purpose is the same, these platforms often have different architecture and underlying technology. It therefore requires some customisation to make the platforms work seamlessly together.
Jaana Sinipuro (DataSpace Europe): ‘As the first recognised Data Space intermediary, we are delighted to play a very active role. We therefore aim to make this initial customisation scalable within the new collaboration. Solutions for this we are certainly also looking for in the GAIA-X trust framework.’
Marko Turpeinen (1001 Lakes): Making these platforms technically interoperable is a first step. But also business-wise and, above all, legally everything must be organised correctly. A lot of work goes into drawing up legally correct, but also fair contracts that are clear to all users. A standardised legal framework can help. The ‘rulebook for a fair data economy’ supports initiatives to make good agreements on data sharing step by step, and to put these into a contract.’