The Art of Possible: The Future of Agriculture event will be delivered by KTN, Glasgow City of Science and Innovation, Technology Scotland, Cultural Enterprise Office and Glasgow City Council, in partnership with VentureFest Scotland.
Winner of the Event of the Year (Business Women Scotland Awards), Art of Possible is back with a new series of inspirational events & workshops that bring together Scotland’s creatives, policy-makers and STEM professionals to consider civic uses for the regions’ world-leading emerging and enabling (E&E) technologies.
At this event, we will explore tech-enabled innovations that can help define the Future of Agriculture.
Agriculture is an important industry in Scotland. Scotland’s farmers, crofters and growers produce output worth around £2.9 billion a year, and are responsible for much of Scotland’s £5 billion food and drinks exports.
The industry faces challenges to improve productivity and sustainability and will require new technology solutions to drive the industry forward.
This event will explore how emerging and enabling technologies can be applied to transform the future of agriculture.
The event will feature a group of ground-breaking, inspirational innovators and knowledge experts in Scotland working creatively and collaboratively (across business, academia, and government) to drive the diffusion of disruptive technologies in the agriculture sector.
Panellists
Dave Ross, Chief Executive Officer, Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre
The Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-EPI Centre) is one of four Agri-Tech centres established by the UK government. Agri-EPI Centre focuses on the delivery of research, development, demonstration and training on precision agriculture and engineering for the livestock, arable, horticulture and aquaculture sectors.
Dave provides leadership and strategic direction to the development of the Centre in its emerging role, both nationally and internationally. He is a trained engineer, with 26 years’ experience of agri-technology in both the cropping and livestock sectors, encompassing a broad range of technology areas. He has been involved in the R&D of a number of novel and patented developments across the agricultural production sectors. Some of these have been fully commercialised and he has assisted with spin-out and new company formations.
Thomas Farrugia, CEO and Founder, Beta Bugs
Beta Bugs is an insect breeding company that creates high performance breeds of Black Soldier Fly which will double the productivity of the rapidly-growing ‘insects-as-protein’ sector. The protein-dense insects are used in livestock and aquaculture feed, reducing the need for environmentally damaging soymeal and fishmeal. Thomas is the Founder and CEO of the company, and is also a Royal Society of Edinburgh Unlocking Ambition Enterprise Fellow.
Dr Andreas Kranis, Head of Genomics at Aviagen and Principle Investigator, The Roslin Institute
Aviagen is a world-leading poultry breeding company, that supply broiler breeding stock to more than 100 countries globally. As Head of Genomics, Dr Andreas Kranis leads on many cutting-edge R&D programmes that drive genetic improvement, utilising cutting-edge technologise such as genomics, bioinformatics and big-data approaches. Andreas also holds a position as Principle Investigator at The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, where he works in Quantitative Genetics and Genomics of Livestock.
Professor Joyce Tait, Co-Director, Innogen Institute, University of Edinburgh
The Innogen Institute is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and the Open University that produces high quality research and supports the delivery of innovation that is profitable, safe and societally useful. Professor Joyce Tait has an an interdisciplinary background, covering natural and social sciences, and has specialised in user-focused approaches to complex issues in the contexts of innovation, risk governance and stakeholder engagement. Joyce is involved in research projects in a range of areas, including agricultural and health-related applications of life sciences, evaluation and application of interdisciplinary research, and sustainable development.
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