Global agriculture is a multi-trillion-dollar ecosystem that is massively inefficient and needs a transformation:
-
Resource constraints (labor, water)
-
Economic dependence (supply-side)
-
Population growth (demand-side)
-
Climate change (exogenous)
-
Consumers attitudes towards food/health (demand-side)
Digital technology holds tremendous promise to advance inclusive agriculture transformation at a scale and speed needed to make a difference; however, due to legacy issues, this transformation has been slow to materialize
Globally accessible/open-source, re-usable and specialized digital infrastructure will reduce costs and friction resulting in accelerating this transformation and realizing efficiency gains
Agribusinesses / Input Providers / Processors
- Accelerating their digital transformation journey through efficiency and productivity, not only their own, but their entire supply-chain
- Reducing cost of innovation by refocusing their resources on the applications instead of infrastructure.
- Providing industry and ecosystem leadership by enabling communities engaged in building and using digital agriculture tools and attracting the best and brightest digital talent.
AgTech Startups / Venture Investors
- Accelerated innovation through free access to a growing one-stop-shop of rich, public data
- Reduced cost of development and maintenance
- Accelerated adoption by the ecosystem
- Ease of integration by the ecosystem / customers
- Improved visibility into avenues for R&D
Producers
- Vendor choice for multiple applications from multiple vendors
- Improved productivity through enhanced ease-of-use due to common design frameworks, user management, across applications
- Improved privacy and security through user-managed permissions
- Easy collaboration with their workforce, vendors due to increasingly integrated and interoperable applications
Tech Companies
- Faster Cloud adoption through an unbiased “compatible-with” integration
- Multiplier to existing open-source projects with new directions e.g., digital assistant for helping recommend pesticide stray or land valuation
- Brand and talent enhancer by showcasing how they are a force for good in the world
- Market expansion by enabling digital ecosystems in rural areas that are “digital deserts”
Non-Profits
- Accelerated impact and use by enabling the actual manifestation of research in code, instead of just papers
- Skilling for the future (Universities) by creating coursework using AgStack
- Lowered cost of research and workflow by leveraging common software maintained by an external workforce
- Improved attractiveness to donors by showcasing industry inclusion as part of the design goal