SEFARI Gateway are a silver sponsor at this year’s A3 Scotland conference - a not-for-profit two-day conference for the Animal Health, Agritech and Aquaculture (AAA) sectors, attracting attendees from all over the world to Inverness, to participate in plenaries, breakouts, investor panel and start up pitching, and sessions on funding, international showcase, skills and emerging solutions in AI, robotics, and sensors.
Our work across the Scottish Government’s Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) Strategic Research Portfolio makes a substantial contribution to the A3 sector in Scotland. Read on to find out more about our A3 related work.
Cattle in Orkney (Photo by Alöna Roitershtein)
Ahead of this year’s A3 Scotland Conference in Inverness, we thought we’d highlight a few examples of how we contribute to the Agritech, Animal Health and Aquaculture sector. A sector key to innovation in Scotland which is supporting a sustainable future for our communities, places and environment.
In support of the sector, we are eager to build upon a previous SEFARI Gateway fellowship on defining the capacity and capability within Scotland’s A3 sector. The project supported Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) as well as that of the Life Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership Group (LSS ILG), in promoting the A3 sector within and external to Scotland. In particular, the fellowship, conducted by Dr Jenna Bowen (SRUC), aimed to increase the understanding of the A3 sector in Scotland, its capacities and capabilities and the national and international opportunities and challenges facing the sector. The project report included an inventory (up to date in 2021) of the breadth of expertise within the sector across academic institutes, companies, innovation centres, networks and consortiums, charities, government and development agencies, and business gateways and venture studios.
Other examples of our projects which have contributed to each of the A’s includes:
A SEFARI Gateway Special Advisory Group (formerly called ‘spark/think tank’) project on identifying research priorities for the use of agritech to improve productivity, efficiency and sustainability in beef and sheep livestock production systems in Scotland. The report highlighted the challenges and research priorities for the sector.
Innovation conducted for animal health and welfare, includes a research project which has looked at tail biting in pigs. The project aimed at developing a machine vision early warning system, using 3D cameras, which can predict the occurrence of the disease outbreak on commercial pig farms and the report offered recommendations for preventative measures. More recently, a SEFARI Gateway Innovative Knowledge Exchange project has developed a farmer-facing, free, online tool which helps with the interpretation of faecal egg count results for roundworms in sheep. While, a current SEFARI research project is investigating what practical on-farm solutions can be developed to achieve improvements in farm animal welfare within environmentally sustainable farming systems in Scotland and in tandem another SEFARI research project is investigating Influencing human behaviour to improve animal welfare.
SEFARI research has also contributed to the aquaculture sector, including a human nutrition study on the risk-benefit analysis of Scottish seaweeds as a sustainable food source. The project has been asking can Scottish seaweeds provide a safe, dietary-relevant source of micronutrients?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is another key, and growing, topic relevant to the A3 sector. A recent workshop held by our Specialist Advisory Group (SAG) on the ‘Applications of Artificial Intelligence to Environment, Natural Resources & Agriculture (ENRA) Policy’ has just published their initial findings. The SAG has been created to advise the Scottish Government on the use, future opportunities, risks and regulatory aspects of AI both as being used, or might be applied, to support ENRA policy in Scotland. The SAG Chair is Professor Mark Brewer who will be joining us at A3 Scotland.
More examples of our projects, including others relevant to the A3 sector, can be found in our research repository. We also provide access to an extensive directory of expertise and can support establishing relevant connections.
As part of our continued support of A3 Scotland, we are eager to discuss relevant research, meet partners and build new connections, as well as discuss potential new project ideas! As SEFARI Gateway’s Director, Charles Bestwick notes:
“the AAA sector is a vibrant example of the of the breadth of global innovation in technologies and practice that is being created in Scotland and SEFARI Gateway is committed to supporting work between research industry and policy to strengthen innovation transfer”.
We like to meet people face to face to help with starting conversations, and you may have already met some of us at events this year such as the British Society of Animal Science conference, Arable Scotland, Royal Highland Show and/or GoFalkland. Therefore, and like other events, we will have a stand presence throughout the A3 Scotland conference, so please come and say hello and meet some of our team – Charles, Michelle and Alöna. You can also email us at info@sefari.scot any time or follow us on X (#LeadingIdeas) and LinkedIn for any updates.
Written by Alöna Roitershtein and Michelle Wilson Chalmers (SEFARI Gateway).