Farm Advisory Digital Innovation tools Realised and Shared (FAIRSHARE)

EU and national/regional policy-makers put a major focus on digitalization. Digital innovation in the agriculture sector must keep pace with other sectors, and the benefits of digitalization should become available to the wider farming community according to the policymakers. However, there is a danger that future innovations in digitalization will be hampered and/or will increase divergences between regions and farms. To prevent this from happening, the FAIRshare project focuses on the special role of farm advisors as the central player in the knowledge landscape for farmers. The project aims to help them take ownership of digital tools and services and use them wisely.

FAIRshare has two main components. First, an online inventory of the digital tools and services used internationally is developed. The inventory of tools is accessible on an intuitively navigable online interface that is co-designed with end users. Second, around 30 user cases, following a living lab approach, are set up, empowering advisor peers from across the EU to interact with the online inventory and, in a series of workshops, to exchange, co-adapt, co-design and apply digital tools.

Active participation of agricultural advisors throughout Europe is key within FAIRshare. The advisors are intensively involved. FAIRshare gives them more say and ownership over the tools that have been and will be developed. The researchers expect that in this way a lively community of advisors will arise around digital tools, where expertise, experiences and of course the tools themselves can be shared.