The Irish led European Horizon 2020 project, DEMETER, has announced the launch of its first open funding calls, DEVELOP, with a total budget of €300,000 available to SMEs. Co-ordinated by the Telecommunications Software and Systems Group (TSSG) in Waterford Institute of Technology, the DEMETER project aims to lead the digital transformation of the agri-food sector in Europe through the rapid adoption of advanced Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, data science and smart farming ensuring the industry’s long-term viability and sustainability.
DEVELOP, the first of two open calls in the DEMETER project, aims to attract and engage Irish start-ups and SMEs with technology products that can be implemented within the agro-business sector.
Speaking about the launch of the open call is Kevin Doolin, Director of Innovation in TSSG and project co-ordinator. “We are encouraging Irish agri-tech SME’s and start-ups to submit a proposal to the DEVELOP open call. We expect to fund between eight to twelve applications with up to €30,000 available per solution. The view of this funding is to support the integration and interoperability of technological solutions for farmers throughout Europe”.
The solutions will be centralised in the DEMETER Hub which will outline the full description of all the components, devices, services, data sources, platforms that are accessible for deployment. This will enable the co-creation of particular solutions to overcome farmers needs and challenges.
Twenty pilot projects are currently running in DEMETER to demonstrate and evaluate how innovations and extended capabilities benefit from the interoperability mechanisms. These pilots cover a wide spectrum of sectors such as arable crops, irrigated crops, fruit production and livestock including poultry, dairy, animal welfare.
Applications for the first of the DEMETER Open Calls must address one of the following challenges:
Topic 1: Soil workability and humidity monitoring
Topic 2: Interoperable Geo Tagged Photo APP
Topic 3: ISOBUS enabler
Topic 4: Blockchain-based solutions for agricultural applications
Topic 5: DEMETER Business process integration
The DEVELOP Open Call opens on 16th of September 2020 and closes on the 18th of November 2020 (17.00 CET).
More information on the Open Calls and how to apply is available at https://h2020-demeter.eu/open-call/. Applications can be made via the F6S platform at https://www.f6s.com/demeterh2020/apply About DEMETER
DEMETER aims to digitally transform Europe’s agri-food sector, with global scalability and replicability, ensuring its long-term viability and sustainability. The €17 million project, funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020, involves 25 deployment sites, 6,000 farmers and over 38,000 devices and sensors being deployed, spanning 318,000 hectares in 18 countries. It includes 60 partners and together, they will run 20 different pilot programmes across five agricultural sectors.
Project Start Date: 01/09/2019
Project Duration: 42 months
More information on DEMETER can be found at https://h2020-demeter.eu/ and across social media channels @H2020DEMETER on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
For additional information on DEMETER please contact the Project Coordinator, Kevin Doolin, at info@h2020-demeter.eu
For additional information on the DEMETER Open Calls, please contact Miguel Goncalves at opencalls@h2020-demeter.eu About F6S F6S is a European based entity that has become the largest Startup/SME community globally with over 1.5 million Startups/SMEs and 2.0 million entrepreneurs. F6S delivers more than €2 billion every year to Startups and SMEs with leading CRM for deal flow, corporate challenges, structured programs, startup services, corporate partnering, recruiting,government grants and free startup resources.]]>
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