The International Telecommunication Union Regional Offices for Europe and CIS, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia are calling for innovative digital solutions advancing transformation in agriculture in Europe and Central Asia.

This call is the first phase of the regional contest entitled “Digital Excellence in Agriculture in Europe and Central Asia", aiming at collecting good practices in the field of digital agriculture and providing a mechanism for identifying proven solutions, outstanding initiatives, and successful projects and programmes across the regions to award them with special recognition of Digital Excellence in Agriculture.

The Call for good practices in the field of digital agriculture aims at overcoming the various challenges of sustainable and resilient food systems. In accordance with the core principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, this call aims at closing the digital, rural and gender divides, known as the triple divide, in order to include all members of society in this unprecedent transition.

To qualify, the good practice shall have proven successful in addressing at least one of the following challenges:

• Regulatory frameworks/ Enhanced market access/ Financial services and insurance;
• Capacity development and empowerment;
• Agriculture innovations systems and sustainable farming;
• Disaster risk management and early warning systems;
• Food loss and waste / Food safety and traceability.

This call will empower individuals and organizations applying innovative methods of ICTs to showcase solutions and best practices in response to the agriculture challenges of Europe and Central Asia. Shortlisted candidates will receive the opportunity to present their innovations and outstanding achievements at the “Digital Excellence in Agriculture” online awarding ceremony (February-March 2021).

Eligibility Criteria

• The good practice must be already put into practice, or have been successfully finalised within the last three years;
• The practices must originate from or be implemented within Europe and Central Asia (CIS) regions;
• The good practice must be based on at least one or a combination of various digital technologies (mobile, satellite, cloud computing, machine learning, sensor network, IoT, etc);
• The solutions indicated in the submission must be accessible and affordable to stakeholders in agriculture sector, so the practices can be replicable.

For more information, visit ITU.