This innovative master's degree meets the growing demand for new profiles in the agri-food sector while promotes ag-tech skills.
This master focuses on the advancement of digital and precision agriculture to generate an educational model based on technological innovation in agriculture. The commitment to food sustainability, accessibility, and traceability in the agri-food chain is key to this master's degree, and the students involved learn most of the techniques and technologies that make them possible.
The combination of on-site practical lectures with optional internships in ag-tech companies offers to the students the necessary skills to implement and lead digitalization and agricultural innovation projects.
This master's degree aims to foster students' ability to discover and implement new business models, inspire their entrepreneurial spirits and stimulate the creation of a science-technology-business ecosystem.
The School of Agricultural Engineers of the University of Seville launched this program to form professionals capable of combining conventional agronomic knowledge with cutting-edge technologies, a highly demanded figure nowadays.
The program has 9 modules, each one dedicated to a specific area of agricultural technology and innovation. The modules are coordinated by highly recognized experts from both the academic/research and the industry sectors.
The students are acquiring in-depth knowledge of the most advanced technologies applied to the agri-food sector: sensing systems, data analysis, Machine Learning, mechatronics, remote sensing, robotics, cloud computing, smart irrigation.

Resources needed

The Master's degree is financed through the enrollment of students and also has the sponsorship of companies in the agri-food sector that actively support this initiative by providing materials and devices, knowledge and offering scholarships and paid internships for students.

Evidence of success

One of the main focuses of the Master in Digital Agriculture and Agrifood Innovation is the transfer of knowledge and cutting-edge technologies that are not widely adopted yet in the agricultural sector.But perhaps the greatest proof of success of this program is the visibility that students are achieving: companies in the sector are approaching it in search for talent to incorporate into their teams. In this sense, several students are having the opportunity to show their skills in some of thes

Difficulties encountered

- Its pioneering and innovative character: sometimes, administrative requirements have eroded the speed of implementation of the project.
- Access to technology: devices, materials and infrastructure: support of companies and institutions of the sector becomes fundamental.

Potential for learning or transfer

It is clear that there is an interest in the agri-food sector to incorporate technologies from other areas that will improve its profitability and viability. There is also an important demand for these new professional profiles in the employment context. It would be very interesting to launch initiatives like this from other areas, both public and private, to contribute to the development of new solutions and proposals based on the use of technology for the optimization of productive resources. The transfer of knowledge, in an educational program is a very relevant indicator. But even more so is finding a ROI for the technicians in the master's degree, a motivation to adopt sustainable and profitable systems. The learning program seeks to emphasize the use of technologies, but even more so their economic potential as drivers of the sector, seeking to convert companies that bet on digital, in the market shapers that are needed in the industry.

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Main institution
University of Seville
Location
Andalucía, Spain (España)
Start Date
May 2018
End Date
Ongoing

Contact

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