AgTech Symposium in Horse & Jockey – Programme and Speakers Announced
A ground-breaking AgTech Symposium will take place on Wednesday, 5th of July at The Horse and Jockey Hotel in Tipperary brought to you by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) of the South East Region and funded under the Action Plan for Jobs. The event has been organised in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, Teagasc, Department of Agriculture, the Institutes of Technology, the Irish Farmers Journal, Agriforvalor, TSSG and industry.
Photographed at the programme launch of AgTech which will take place at The Horse and Jockey Hotel, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, on Wednesday, July 5. (l-r) Derek Blackweir, Manager, QUESTUM Acceleration Centre; Madeline Ryan, Local Enterprise Office Tipperary; James Maloney, Enterprise Ireland; Rita Guinan, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Tipperary; Donal Mullane, Regional Manager, Teagasc; and Attracta Lyons, Economic Development Officer, Tipperary County Council.:- AgTech Launch pic by Patrick Browne, IPPA
Ireland is extremely progressive in both agriculture and technology and this symposium aims to highlight opportunities that will capitalise on our strengths in the emerging AgTech sector. AgTech is developing at pace across the country and the agencies involved are anxious to bring increased focus to this area in the South and East, that will lead to opportunities, innovation, connections, strategic alliances and targeted supports.
The morning conference will bring together, key industry leaders in agriculture, technology and drivers of AgTech innovation, along with entrepreneurs from successful start-ups, the investor community and farmers who are embracing AgTech on their farms for insightful panel discussions. The conference will offer insight into the future for AgTech in Ireland by investigating opportunities to grow AgTech, how we can grow and develop ready built technologies to be used in an agricultural capacity and what is the real impact of AgTech on the farm with insights from progressive farmers and companies who are using technology on the farm every day.
Barry Downes of Suir Valley Ventures and Andrew Wood of ApisProtect are just two of the big guns engaged to speak in relation to the business side of AgTech as they will look at opportunities from early stage start-ups to funding options and the potential benefit of an AgTech Innovation Fund for the region. From an agricultural perspective, Professor Frank O’Mara of Teagasc and Dr. Patrick Barrett of the Department of Agriculture will join Professor Willie Donnelly of TSSG to share their national vision for AgTech. While Ethan Cleary of the IFA, Dermot Forristal of Teagasc and James Moloney of Enterprise Ireland are noteworthy panellists who will be discussing technology transfer on the farm and funding. The afternoon will consist of four unique breakout workshops focusing on Bio-Economy, Automation – Smart Farming, Sensors and Engineering – GM.
Attendees at the conference will include farmers, engineers, AgTech companies, investors, entrepreneurs and students with an interest in emerging technologies for agriculture. The aim of the symposium is to grow, progress and increase profitability with AgTech across the region.
Tickets are priced at €50 and include morning conference, light refreshments and lunch. Afternoon workshops are optional and free for conference participants to attend however, pre-booking is essential and availability is quite limited, for that reason those interested in attending AgTech are urged to register for the event at today www.agtech2017.eventbrite.ie.
Full Programme: AGENDA
9.00am – 9.30am – Registration.
9.30am – Opening Remarks – Barry O’Sullivan, Chairman of Mid-West Action Plan for Jobs.
9.40am – 10.00am: Future Developments of AgTech in Ireland.
Identify and develop the opportunities and strengths of the agricultural
technology sector in the Region and Nationally.
Chair – Peter Young, Irish Farmers Journal
- Professor Frank O’Mara, Director of Research, Teagasc
- Prof Willie Donnelly – President of WIT and Founder of TSSG
- Patrick Barrett Agricultural Inspector at Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine – Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine
10.00am – 10.45 am: How can the transfer of ready built technologies impact on the sector?
Ready built technologies are becoming key to developing the AgTech sector at pace.
Chair: Brian Foley, EU Quality Manager, TSSG.
- Ethan Cleary, Head of IT Strategy, IFA
- Frances Cleary – Tech Lead TSSG
- Graham Lowe, Development Advisor, Enterprise Ireland
10.45am – 11.15am– BREAK
11.15am – 12.00pm – Opportunities for AgTech – An Innovation Fund or Accelerator?
What does it mean to get early stage funding intervention for your start-up and what would it mean to you if there was an AgTech Innovation Fund was set up in the region to invest in early-stage food- and agricultural-technology companies.
Chair – Peter Young, Irish Farmers Journal
- Barry Downes, Managing Partner, Suir Valley Ventures
- Fabien Peyaud, CEO and Founder, Herdwatch
- Andrew Wood – Chairman of ApisProtect
- Robert Walker, CEO, Keenans Systems.
12.00pm – 1.00pm: The Real Impact of AgTech on the Farm – hear it directly from the farmers.
When we apply tech solutions to our farms, what does this really mean on the ground for the farmer.
Chair – Peter Young, Irish Farmers Journal
- Dermot Forristal, Researcher Crops and Mechanisation (Teagasc)
- Niall Austin, Cattle Farmer, Director and Founder of MooCall
- Kevin Nolan, Tillage Farmer, Nolan Farming.
- Brian Reidy (Title to be confirmed)
*Note: it is important to learn how they adapted the tech, what type of tech they want to see coming down the line, do they feel tech makes them more competitive/profit?
1.00pm – 2.00pm – LUNCH
2.00pm – 3.00pm – Research and Application – Workshops
Workshop 1: Bio – Economy
Workshop 2: Automation
Workshop 3: Sensors
Workshop 4: GM Engineering
3-4pm Networking Opportunities
Notes on Objectives of the event:
The objective of the symposium which will call on international best practice will:
(i) identify and develop the opportunities and strengths of the agricultural
technology sector in the Region
(ii) Create a vision for the sector that will encompass key determinants such as
innovation and sustainability; exploitation of opportunities to develop and adopt
new and existing technologies, products and services to increase productivity;
and contribute to expansion into international markets.
(iii) Investigate the opportunity to develop an AgTech Innovation Fund to invest in
early-stage food- and agricultural-technology companies in the Region. The fund
could look at targeting supports to entrepreneurs who are developing solutions
to improve farm productivity, increase agricultural sustainability, modernise
supply and distribution chains, and create innovative new high-value products.
