Teagasc and Microsoft will work together to develop agricultural-based technology that will advance Irish agriculture in support of rural development and innovation.

On Saturday, both organisations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at Ballyhaise agricultural college and also launched the first initiative under the partnership called Airband.

Airband is a pilot project which will provide remote internet connectivity to the college in Ballyhaise and potentially some surrounding households.

It will allow students at the college to access internet-based digital technology while training and working remotely in the fields and outbuildings across the 220ha campus.

This connectivity will mean students will be able to leverage a range of technologies, including AI and data analytics, to help inform decision making while learning. The other projects identified in the MOU will be rolled out over the summer and will focus on precision agriculture, big data, and AI.

Global initiative

The pilot is part of Microsoft’s Airband global initiative, which aims to extend connectivity to undeserved, rural communities around the world by working with partners and leveraging innovative technologies, such as wireless solutions using TV white spaces.

TV white space is unassigned broadcast spectrum which travels over long distances, penetrates natural and man-made obstacles, and is abundant in rural areas.

In the US alone, Microsoft has committed to bringing three million rural Americans online by 2022.

Net1, will work alongside Teagasc and Microsoft providing the ISP connectivity and managing the installation and deployment of the pilot.

The pilot project is the first of its kind in Ireland and it will inform how a similar solution can be deployed in other rural or agricultural settings across the country and beyond. The pilot will commence in the coming weeks and will run for up to eight months.

Commissioner

Speaking at the launch on Saturday, the European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said: “The partnership is, at its heart, around the potential for technology to enable better decision making in farm operations. And that is exactly where farming has to head – not next year, or next month, but today.

“From 2020 onwards, I want and expect to see an upsurge in Smart Village projects where a local initiative is supported by EU funding through programmes such as the Rural Development Programme (RDP) or LEADER, along with partners from the private sector such as Microsoft, who can bring innovative solutions like Airband to the table.”

Professor Gerry Boyle, Teagasc director, added: ”Using this technology will allow Teagasc to have high speed broadband across all our farm land in Ballyhaise. Sustainable land management underpins Teagasc courses and our teaching approach is a blend of classroom and practical learning.

“This project will allow us to bring technology that has previously been restricted to the classroom directly to the field,” he said.

Cathriona Hallahan, managing director of Microsoft Ireland, said: “It is critically important that Ireland, as a farming nation, ensures that the agricultural sector gets the benefit of technology to help inform future planning as well as day-to-day farm management.

“The projects that we will work with Teagasc on will bring real impact to farmers and we believe they can be scaled rapidly.”

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