UAV-IQ was invited to participate in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region “Lab” at the Viva Technology trade show, one of the biggest innovation events in the world (with guests such as the CEOs of Microsoft, IBM and Facebook), to present its innovation along with some of the leading French Agtech companies.

With growing concerns about food security, sustainability, and important laws regarding the industry such as the renewal of the approval of glyphosate for five more years being discussed the same week at the European Parliament, this “Lab” was a huge success.

Together with UAV-IQ, some growing companies like Hiphen (high-end plant phenotyping systems) or Weather Measures (precision meteorology) showcased their solutions to international visitors and French leaders most prominent of whom was the French Secretary of State of Digital, Mounir Mahjoubi. Mr. Mahjoubi is very familiar with the industry and its challenges because he created the first European short distribution channel between growers and consumers La Ruche qui dit Oui !

Not surprisingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) was on everyone’s lips as France is aiming to be a world leader on the subject and has invested in initiatives such as France is AI, which has begun to create an ecosystem of startups, researchers and public decision makers. This AI revolution is also having a huge impact on the agriculture industry with the development of crop monitoring that leverages computer vision, machine learning that predicts diseases outbreaks and yield, and autonomous farm equipment, to name just a few.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect during the event (May 25th, 2018) and the European Union also wants to demonstrate that data privacy and innovation are compatible. This is a subject that a rapidly growing segment of the Ag industry deeply cares about and all service providers should consider.
The various investment funds attending the trade show reiterated their strong interest in AgTech and are looking for investment opportunities in remote sensing, drones and precision agriculture in general. One of the reasons for their strong interest is that Agtech and Precision Agriculture are no longer the prerogative of industrial farming but also are of significant benefit to small-scale farming, thanks in part to the work of organizations like the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)..