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Robotics Plus unveils autonomous modular vehicle to alleviate agriculture labour shortages

Thursday, October 27th, 2022

Multi-use, modular platform Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) automates tree and vine crop tasks, starting with intelligent spraying

FRESNO, Calif., and TAURANGA, NZ Robotics Plus, a New Zealand-based agritech company, today launched its autonomous multi-use, modular vehicle platform for agriculture designed to carry out a variety of orchard and vineyard machine tasks – to alleviate ongoing labor shortages and transform the industry.

The multi-purpose Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) can be supervised in a fleet of vehicles by a single human operator. The vehicle uses a combination of vision systems and other technologies to sense the environment – to optimize tasks and allow intelligent and targeted application of inputs such as sprays. Growers will be able to rotate multiple tools on the highly adaptable and configurable agriculture platform, depending on the day’s work – for jobs such as spraying, weed control, mulching, mowing and crop analysis.

Robotics Plus, a specialist in the design and build of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous machines, unveiled its demonstration vehicle at FIRA USA 2022, a California-based event dedicated to autonomous agriculture and agricultural robotics solutions for the North American market.

Steve Saunders, Co-founder and CEO of Robotics Plus, says its world-class team worked alongside growers, researchers and best-in-class technology suppliers to deliver the unique modular architecture for its multi-purpose UGV, which can operate in a range of environments.


Caption (L): Steve Saunders Co-founder and CEO of Robotics Plus
Caption (R): Dr Alistair Scarfe, Co-founder and CTO of Robotics Plus


“We’ve created a flexible agricultural platform with the power to adapt to different crop types with tools for various applications, providing year-round automation benefits and maximizing machine utilization.

“To adapt and thrive in a changing world and create a sustainable and competitive future in the agricultural and speciality tree crop sector – growers and orchardists need automation that solves real-world problems, reduces reliance on increasingly costly and hard-to-find machine operators and provides data-driven insights for informed decision-making.”

Saunders says that for automation to be adopted, it must also provide a good return on investment.

“Our multi-purpose vehicle replaces tractors and other tools. But, it does much more than just replacing labor – it’s loaded with intelligence to improve efficiencies,” he says.

The first application for the technology is intelligent spraying. The system intelligently varies the flow rate to ensure spray efficacy whilst reducing inputs. Spray rates and airspeed is controlled in zones and responds as the sprayer moves along orchard or vineyard rows.

The highly manoeuvrable UGV has a small footprint and unique steering configuration, incorporating electric steering and independent motors, which increases productivity – allowing significantly more ground to be covered than machines which turn on every second row or greater, depending on row configuration. The UGV can be deployed in a range of applications in various crop types with a minimum row spacing of 1.8M/6ft.

Dr Alistair Scarfe, Co-founder and CTO of Robotics Plus, says its hybrid electric diesel UGV delivers outstanding performance in the field.

“Electric drive motors give superior torque and control, whilst a Tier 4 diesel generator means the vehicle can operate for extended periods. Fuel consumption is minimized by electrically driving all systems, including tools. Regenerative braking and high-capacity batteries also extend efficiency and range.

“In addition, the vehicle’s lightweight design and intelligent all-wheel-drive system, with independent wheel motors to ensure grip and control – while significantly reducing ground compaction to protect the soil,” he says.

The vehicle has been designed from the ground up to be modular and easy to service. With no hydraulic, gearbox or differential fluids to be managed, operators can easily keep their vehicles running if a part fails by simply swapping out modules when needed. All of this is designed to reduce downtime and complexity for growers.

Robotics Plus has partnered with best-in-class technology suppliers, including Yamaha Motor Company, Autonomous Solutions Inc., and Croplands, to significantly increase the robustness and support for the product in a demanding environment such as agriculture.


Caption: Robotics Plus’ multi-use, modular platform Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV)
automates tree and vine crop tasks for orchards and vineyards



Saunders says by taking a partnership approach, Robotics Plus has created a best-in-class platform for the agriculture industry.

“We’ve benefited from our partner’s deep knowledge and access to high-quality technology components. In addition, growers can deploy Quantum sprayers with configurations adaptable to various crop types, growing formats, and heights.”

Robotics Plus has developed multiple autonomous systems for use in agriculture and automation for intelligent fruit-packing to address significant industry issues, including global labor shortages, rising costs, and yield security. In addition, its robotic automatic log scaling machines are transforming port logistics with improved safety and productivity.

Robotics Plus’ fast-growing team developed the modular platform UGV at its Tauranga base, with extensive testing in New Zealand and the US in various environments and applications. Robotics Plus investors include Yamaha Motor Company and New Zealand’s ACC Impact Fund.


Robotics Plus’ new autonomous modular vehicle is available for pre-order.
For more information, see https://www.roboticsplus.co.nz/


Posted in Media Release, General

Leveraging data for environmental initiatives

Wednesday, October 26th, 2022

AgriTechNZ and Rezare Systems are working with the Ministry for Primary Industries on a project that aims to align the way we describe and identify data elements, so that farmers and their ecosystem can participate in a range of industry initiatives without reinventing the wheel for each initiative.

Why are we doing this?

You will be aware of the central and regional government and industry initiatives around farm systems, integrated farm planning, freshwater farm planning, and emissions reporting.

Each of these initiatives leverages data about farms and catchments, and each initiative rightfully has its own data requirements and data dictionary that align with regulatory or supply chain requirements.

AgriTech New Zealand, the Ministry for Primary Industries, and the Data Interoperability Working Group recognise that there are benefits in aligning the data definitions in these initiatives. Alignment will reduce the confusion that could otherwise about “similar but different” terms. Alignment will also allow farmers and their organisations and advisors to re-use data more effectively.

What are we doing?

This is not a huge project. Most initiatives and programmes already have existing glossaries or data dictionaries that could be aligned. Organisations also have their own data schemas and experts who know how data elements should be interpreted. The opportunity is to bring these together.

AgriTech New Zealand and MPI have retained Rezare Systems (who previously worked on the NZ Farm Data Standards) to engage with data stewards (service providers and software companies), and obtain existing glossaries or data dictionaries, to analyse where they can be aligned. The outcome will be an updated set of definitions, made available as open source, and planned to be integrated into other evolving initiatives such as Integrated Farm Planning and LINK Aotearoa (previously called LINK 2025).

The timeline looks like this:

  • October 2022 – briefing workshops, engagement with the appropriate experts in your team
  • November 2022 – analysis work to align the existing glossaries and produce a cohesive cross-initiative glossary
  • December 2022 – publish the resulting data dictionary or glossary for feedback

Could you be involved?

We are looking for people with informed opinions on the definition and interpretation of data fields used to support environmental initiatives. These definitions include spatial, livestock, crop, water, or fertiliser activities.

We are particularly interested in talking to people in organisations with their own definitions, glossaries, or database schemas. If this could be you or someone in your organisation, please get in contact at info@agritechnz.org.nz

Posted in General, AgriTechNZ News

Sprout Accelerator: search for cohort IX

Wednesday, May 18th, 2022

Sprout, New Zealand’s leading agrifoodtech accelerator and investor, is on the hunt for entrepreneurs for their next cohort!

Sprout understands the importance of developing innovation and talent in the agrifoodtech ecosystem. Their herd is a team of experts who live and breathe agriculture, food and technology. They work alongside a wide range of agrifoodtech start-ups and entrepreneurs, working on ideas like the next automated soil testing robot or a positive gut health food.

The Sprout Accelerator is 12-weeks of virtual and in person sessions. A big benefit is you don’t need to relocate, you just need to make yourself available for all the workshops and Underground events. You need to be agile, dynamic and willing to be challenged.

Sprout’s promise to you:
● Challenge you to validate your business model
● Coach you on what investors are looking for in a pitch
● Enable you to work in a cohort of entrepreneurs
● Provide tailored workshops for optimum learning
● Pair you with a specialised mentor/s
● Connect you with their vast global network.

Registrations for their next cohort are now OPEN.

If you know someone up for the challenge, find out more here.
Registrations close 4 June 2022.


Posted in General

Bracing Ourselves for Massive Disruption

Wednesday, March 9th, 2022

Svein Holsether, the CEO of Yara International, the USD12Bn nutrient company with 17,000 staff in 60 countries, said since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “For me, it’s not whether we are moving into a global food crisis, but how large the crisis will be”.  

David Beasley, head of the World Food Programme, has warned the conflict in Ukraine could send global food prices soaring, with especially catastrophic impact on the world’s poorest.  

During a recent call with Brendan O’Connell and I, Padraig Hennessy, Chair of Agtech Ireland said in his conversations with the Irish government, there is talk of food and fuel rationing not heard of since WWII.

With these ‘tectonic plate’ shifts in geopolitical forces, how is this going to affect the New Zealand primary sector and the agritech sector that serves it?

AgriTechNZ and its members focus largely at the beginning of the food chain – the literal food chain – where farmers and growers use agricultural technologies to increase yields, save labour, improve efficiency, reduce pollution, save fuel, preserve foodstuffs, all to improve sustainable profitable productivity.  

At the other end of the food chain, Eat New Zealand works to encourage Kiwis to enjoy more of the quality food available in our country.  The CEO of Eat New Zealand, Angela Clifford, makes the observation that growers of millers’ grain get paid no more for grain for human consumption than for animal consumption.  

With whatever degree of abstraction one looks at it – close up at a single horticulture farmer growing fresh produce for a local restaurant or a major processor buying from thousands of farms – we are in for a massive degree of disruption.  Observers have rightly noted that the European Union has made more progress in 10 days than in the previous 10 years in certain aspects in response to the war in Ukraine.

So what can we do in the agritech sector in New Zealand to embrace these changes and move rapidly to build a better primary sector?

1. Greater focus on the companies in New Zealand that have the resources, balance sheets, product experience and most importantly, their existing successful customer bases, to expand offshore.  Of course we need startups, but the engine of economic growth in our agritech sector will come at pace and scale from our established mid-cap Agritech companies.

2. Greater alignment between central and regional Governments with industry.  We have already achieved many successes through the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) over the last couple of years, but let’s see how we can double the output in half the time to keep pace with the accelerated rate of change.

3. Support farmers with their digital adoption.  AgriTechNZ has recently completed the research phase of a substantial project to understand New Zealand farmers’ adoption and value extraction of technology.  The next phase is the analysis, publication and implementation of the insights gained from this project.  

4. Keep a global perspective.  The physical coastline of Aotearoa New Zealand is irrelevant in a digital world, so focusing inward on domestic technologies without due appreciation of global trends is risky.  Think how the local taxi industry has been disrupted by technology from San Francisco!

With these and other drivers in mind, our agritech sector can succeed – but how agile we are will correlate with how successful we are?

Kenneth Irons

Chair

AgriTechNZ


Posted in General

Te Ara Paerangi – Future Pathways Green Paper

Friday, March 4th, 2022

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is seeking feedback on proposals for the research, science and innovation (RSI) sector. In its formative stage, the Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways Green Paper seeks to begin the conversation about the future of New Zealand’s research system.

At AgriTechNZ, we proudly connect an ecosystem of innovators, investors, regulators and researchers. We know that the success of our sector is based on an inclusive and collaborative RSI system.

The Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways Green Paper focuses on six key areas: 

  1. Research Priorities: how to better identify and deliver on whole of system research priorities.
  2. Te Tiriti, Mātauranga Māori, and Supporting Māori Aspirations: how the research system can best honour Te Tiriti, give life to Māori research aspirations, and enable mātauranga Māori.
  3. Funding: how to reshape the funding system for the future and to give effect to research priorities.
  4. Institutions: how to increase connections, collaboration and adaptability within the system for future success.
  5. Workforce: how the RSI workforce is supported, developed and funded.
  6. Research Infrastructure: how we invest in, govern and run the national research infrastructure.

As part of the consultation process, we are preparing a submission and have already spoken with many stakeholders. At a high level, we expect to be commenting on these topics:
– Industry stakeholder engagement
– Skills and relationships that enable innovation
– A ‘whole of system’ perspective
– Perspectives on New Zealand’s strengths, opportunities and place in the world
– Te Tiriti partnership and it’s potential to frame a deep and unique contribution to global issues
– The global impact of New Zealand science and innovation
– Measures of success and impact from our RSI system.


If you have an opinion or would like to schedule a call with one of our team to discuss further, please email us info@agritechnz.org.nz

Ngā mihi

Brendan O’Connell
Chief Executive, on behalf of the Executive Council of AgriTech New Zealand

Posted in General

2021 Global CEA Census will measure the impact of sustainability

Wednesday, July 7th, 2021

The 2021 Global CEA Census has launched with a focus on growers’ perspectives on sustainability and how they are measuring specific ESG (environmental, social, and governance) outcomes.


This year
Agritecture Consulting will partner with AgTech leader WayBeyond who has taken over responsibility of the Census from automation business Autogrow.


“Our WayBeyond ethos for sustainable crop production technology fits perfectly with this year’s Census. Understanding the impact of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) on the planet allows us to continue highlighting the growers doing remarkable work to reduce their environmental impact while producing quality crops,” says WayBeyond CEO & Founder Darryn Keiller.


“There’s clear evidence showing consumers, particularly Gen-Z, are making decisions based on the sustainability factor of not only the food they eat but also the packaging, distribution and producers themselves. This Census will give a clear view of the role CEA can play in creating a more sustainable planet.”


This is the third year the Census has run with increasing participation each year from greenhouse, indoor vertical, and tunnel house growers. Past Census reports have brought forward key information on the state of the industry, tactics being used, and the people behind its many operations. One example in the 2020 report showed there was plenty of optimism despite the pandemic, with 95% of respondents having an “excellent” or “good” outlook for the 12 months ahead, and only 5% indicating that the business’ future was uncertain.


“We work hard to encourage as many growers to participate as possible and, with a focus on sustainability, we hope to gain an even better uptake this year, especially from large-scale operations,” explains Agritecture Consulting Founder and CEO Henry Gordon-Smith.


“This is the most comprehensive global survey of CEA operations running, and the published findings will provide valuable insights that may affect policy, financing options, operational practices, and new technology. That is a benefit for all of us in the industry.”


The 2021 Global Census will run from 7 July 2021 until 20 August 2021


For further information, interviews and images, please contact:

Kylie Horomia, Head of Industry
Transformation
(e) kylie.horomia@waybeyond.io
(m) +6421 743 378
(w) www.waybeyond.io www.farmroad.io

Briana Zagami, Agritecture Marketing & Sustainability Lead
(e) briana@agritecture.com

(w) www.agritecture.com


About WayBeyond

WayBeyond creates technology for a better world. Its vision is to transform the agricultural industry so it can produce food sustainably for everyone on the planet.
WayBeyond’s expertise in data, artificial intelligence, and plant science is embodied in its future-focused farming solutions. FarmRoad – a farm management platform with powerful yield prediction and crop registration tools, and Folium – a climate monitoring system which harnesses readings from a network of wireless sensors to deliver detailed data across large growing areas.
Advocates of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, WayBeyond also supports the next generation of growers through community education programs.


About Agritecture


Agritecture provides a comprehensive approach to CEA project development.
In operation since 2014, Agritecture has helped more than 100 organizations determine the feasibility of their ideas, validate their business strategies, recruit talent for their projects, and manage operational challenges.
Our job is to jumpstart your knowledge of CEA, help you navigate barriers to entry, make industry connections, and mitigate risk. Our consulting services are backed by several years of operations data and a team of experienced growers, engineers, and sustainability managers.


Posted in General

BASELINE OF DIGITAL ADOPTION IN PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

Monday, July 5th, 2021

Adoption of technology by end users underpins every agritech business’ existence.

While great work which has been completed within subsectors of the Primary Industry or by companies with their end users, there is a lack of visibility of the relative adoption of technology, how these change over time and, importantly, what can be done to affect it over time.

AgriTechNZ in association with key industry partners have commenced a longitudinal study focused on resolving these issues. The work will support existing sub-sector research whilst enabling partners to leverage insights into their digital road maps and/or outreach programmes.   

Following an RFP, we have appointed insights agency, Research First as the delivery partner for the survey. Research First brings extensive experience in designing and delivering longitudinal studies within the rural sector and is highly regarded for its skill in using data to inform strategic thinking.

The project aims will provide visibility into the maturity of the practices within different primary industry sectors, the value that precision practices provide along with the drivers of adoption of digital tools and how these change over time.

We are in the process of designing the survey with input from our industry partners.

Industry partners will have access to detailed responses from the survey, providing  valuable insights digital adoption as it relates to their sector. This will greatly assist them in defining their digital and outreach strategies.

Our core industry partners are;

We are working closely with the Agritech ITP to ensure that the measurements can help the measure the ITP’s effectiveness.

If you would like to know more or become a partner, please reach out to tim@agventure.co.nz


Posted in General

Second batch of 2021 videos are live – E Tipu 2021

Wednesday, June 16th, 2021


The second batch of speaker videos from E Tipu 2021: The Boma NZ Agri Summit are live for you to view and share, including the stellar summit highlights reel.

To watch all the E Tipu 2021 videos and receive alerts when new talks are added, subscribe to the Boma Global YouTube channel.

>>> View the E Tipu 2021 summit highlights

>>> Bookmark the E Tipu 2021 video playlist

Jono Frew

Co-Founder, Quorum Sense

WATCH NOW

Dr. Steve Meller

Founder, CH4 Global

WATCH NOW

Melissa Clark-Reynolds ONZM

Director, Atkins Ranch

WATCH NOW

Tangaroa Walker

Founder, Farm 4 Life

WATCH NOW

Mike Taitoko

CEO, Calm the Farm

WATCH NOW

Miranda Burdon

Co-Founder, Food Nation

WATCH NOW

Tané Hunter

Co-Founder, Future Crunch

WATCH NOW


Posted in General

E Tipu 2021

Thursday, June 10th, 2021

The first batch of speaker videos from E Tipu 2021: The Boma NZ Agri Summit are live for you to view and share.

Subscribe to the Boma Global YouTube channel and receive alerts when new talks are added to the E Tipu 2021 playlist.

>>> Subscribe to the Boma Global YouTube channel

>>> Bookmark the E Tipu 2021 video playlist


Paul Polman

Co-founder and chair

IMAGINE; former CEO, Unilever

WATCH NOW

Geoff Ross

Founder, 42BELOW Vodka; director, Lake Hawea Station

WATCH NOW

Louisa Burwood-Taylor

Chief Editor, AgFunder; Founder, Agri Investor

WATCH NOW

Sir Ian Taylor

Founder, Animation Research Ltd; Co-Founder, HyperFarm

WATCH NOW

Loan Williams

Founder, Keravos; Director, The NEw Zealand Merino Company

WATCH NOW

Nicole Masters

Director, Integrity Soils; Author, “For the love of soil”

WATCH NOW


Posted in General

Technology shaping the future of NZ productivity

Wednesday, April 28th, 2021

Tāmaki Makaurau – Technology is shaping the future of agriculture which will help inject a massive impetus into the New Zealand economy, AgriTechNZ chief executive Brendan O’Connell says.

It’s a double impact, with exports of agricultural technologies growing and many of those same technologies transforming what agriculture and horticulture looks like in Aotearoa, he says. 

Agritech underpins current levels of primary industry productivity and is leading new levels of performance and sustainability. Much of what is happening now is building on the digital foundations for agriculture in and from New Zealand.

“The technologies behind our genetic gains, farm modelling and management systems have enabled the growth of our primary industries. Now new tools are building on these digital foundations to drive the next levels of productivity and sustainability on farm.

“We are seeing the use of environmental sensors to quickly identify and manage a range of farm issues. That includes automating the right time, rate and place to irrigate on a pastoral farm as well as addressing problematic microclimates in controlled environment systems such as indoor and vertical farms, which are extensive around the world.

“Image sensors are used in the development of facial recognition for animal identification and fruit counting and sizing applications. These are all tasks that, when automated, significantly improve the productive output of our farms whilst mitigating environmental impacts.

“This ability to match farming knowledge with technology development is a New Zealand strength and links well to findings in the recent Productivity Commission report.”

The report encourages government investment on areas of existing or emerging economic strength and competitive advantage. A small country can excel in only a limited number of areas that can get to critical mass and support sustained world-class competitive performance.

Exporting distinctive products at scale is the way to reach for the global frontier, and New Zealand’s ability to innovate in food production is surely distinctive in the eyes of both global consumers and food producers.

O’Connell says these strengths are recognised in a new $40 million dollar investment fund aimed at companies capable of amplifying New Zealand’s ability to curtail environmental impacts whilst producing better foods, globally.

The fund was launched by US based Finistere Ventures in partnership with New Zealand Growth Capital Partners, and will be based in Palmerston North at The Factory, a leading R&D and company incubation cluster that has a longstanding relationship with Finistere. 

The agritech industry transformation plan released last year sets out key areas for the economic development of the sector and lines up well with many of the findings of the Productivity Commission.

“In addition to addressing issues around investment, it is targeting our ability to match our research and development capabilities with international opportunities.”

O’Connell sees abundant potential in bridging current gaps in the outputs from New Zealand’s investment and resources in research, compared to similar sized countries.

He identifies with the Productivity Commission’s determination that, to make progress, the right level of sustained investment is required. The government will need to make significant investments in infrastructure, research and people to complement the efforts and investments of the business sector, he says.

For further information contact Brendan O’Connell on 021 369740 or NZTech’s media specialist, Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188

Posted in General

Water solutions need big ideas and big investment

Thursday, October 29th, 2020

2020 Water Challenge winners announced

  • Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge aimed to solve water problems in the agri supply chain
  • Challenge will commercialise trans-Tasman solutions in Australia and New Zealand to maximise impact

As researchers look to create water out of thin air, the future of agrifood innovation looks bright, but collaboration and investment will be the key to getting ideas off the page and into market, according to Craig Shapiro, co-CEO of Bridge Hub, which has just announced the winners of its 2020 Water Challenge.

Launched in February, the Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge aimed to uncover the best and brightest research, the most innovative ideas, and the best startups that positively impact water sustainability across our agrisystem. The global Challenge attracted over 150 researchers and entrepreneurs from Australia, New Zealand and Israel.

Winning solutions as diverse as creating water from air, measuring water with acoustics and sludge-free waste recycling for remote communities highlight that the Water Challenge has been successful in its aim of uncovering some of the leading cutting edge solutions currently being developed.

“The quality of not only the winning solutions but of all the applicants highlights that we have the capacity to achieve anything if we turn our minds to the task at hand. Our ability to solve problems across the entire agrifood supply chain is only limited by our imagination, as long as we have the right frameworks in place,” Craig says.

The Water Challenge has provided recognition and prize money to the winning teams, but just as important, it has created a connected and collaborative community from across the globe, all of whom share Bridge Hub’s passion for solving global water-related problems. 

“While today marks the end of the Water Challenge, it is just the beginning of a bigger journey of working with a global community of like-minded organisations and individuals to transform many of the big ideas and solutions submitted to the Water Challenge into impactful and successful outcomes.”

The Water Challenge wraps up at a time when agrifood research  bodies are increasing their focus on both commercialisation and adoption of research, climate change continues to present global challenges and Australian agriculture considers how it achieves its goal of becoming a $100 billion industry.

Governments in many jurisdictions are allocating significant funding to help underpin the future growth of the agriculture and food sectors with many positive initiatives underway. Many of these include a focus on drought resilience and water quality.

“To solve our water related problems we will always need investment,” Craig says. “The opportunity for future investment in agrifood tech solutions is in many cases enabled by government initiatives but it is private investment that will always be the prime driver to turn great ideas into commercially successful outcomes.”

Craig believes there will be an increasing pool of capital available to be allocated to investment opportunities in the agrifood tech sector. This includes capital from the growing number of global impact investors, who require normal financial returns but also want their investments to have a positive and sustainable impact on the environment or society.

“Ultimately, we need the private sector, research, and government working together to increase investment which will underwrite the successful and sustainable future for agriculture and food production. The establishment of industry led agrifood tech bodies such as AgritechNZ and Ausagritech will also help to drive investment towards the rapidly growing agrifood tech sector. We are extremely optimistic about the direction we’re heading and in particular how the ideas unlocked from the Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge can play a role in that sustainable future.”

Winners of the Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge were announced today during a virtual event.

BRIDGE HUB 2020 WATER CHALLENGE WINNERS

Australian Research Stream – sponsored by CSIRO
Advanced Capture of Water from the Atmosphere (ACWA)
Prof Chiara Neto, The University of Sydney
Ground breaking research that is working on a new water solution that aims to capture water from the air.

New Zealand Research Stream – sponsored by Zespri
Real-time control of irrigation through acoustic sensing to prevent runoff and pollution. (Acoustic sensing for Irrigation)
Dr Chandra Ghimire, AgResearch Ltd. Lincoln New Zealand
Research that is using acoustic technology to help irrigators to be smarter with their water efficiency.

Australian Startup Stream – sponsored by Commonwealth Bank
Streamwise DI
Paul Hatten, Clayton VIC
Waste Water solution that improves environmental outcomes and operating efficiencies of food manufacturers through the use of Artificial Intelligence.

New Zealand Startup Stream – Sponsored by Wharf42
RiverWatch
James Muir, Matarangi
A water quality solution that provides real time monitoring and decision making for our rivers and waterways. 

Israel Startup Stream
LagunaTech
Clive Lipchin, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Kibbutz Ktura
Decentralised wastewater treatment solution that assists remote and off grid communities to create new water sources.

For more about the Challenge, visit waterchallenge.co

Posted in General