The QuantiFarm project focusses on supporting the further deployment of digital technologies in agriculture (DATs) as key enablers for enhancing the sustainability (economic, environmental, social) performance and competitiveness of the agricultural sector. It will achieve this by establishing a framework for assessing the impact and effectiveness of DATs in agriculture and developing innovative tools, services and recommendations for farmers, advisors and policy makers. Following a multi-actor approach, QuantiFarm will build the project activities around 30 Test Cases (TCs) which span over 20 countries in 10 (of the 11) Biogeographical regions across Europe, capturing multiple geo-political and financial settings. All 30 TCs take place in commercial farms of different types, sizes, ownership and operating conditions from 7 agricultural sectors. Different aspects of these TCs will be examined in the context of different work packages (WPs). The TCs’ actors will be engaged in participatory observation activities to offer valuable input and actively support the behavioural analysis (WP1), the establishment of the Assessment Framework (WP2) and the co-design of an innovative Toolkit for farmers, advisors and policy makers (WP3). The lean multi-actor approach will be used in the testing activities to evaluate the QuantiFarm Toolkit and validate the Assessment Framework by testing the various DATs in real life conditions, across 3 iterations/growing seasons (WP4). The outcomes will be transformed into policy recommendations (WP5) and will feed the QuantiFarm DIA that will help build the capacities of farmers’ advisors in DATs. Finally, a WP on dissemination, ecosystem building and exploitation (WP6), will guarantee the wider dissemination and knowledge transfer in a multi-actor context of the outputs of the project. QuantiFarm includes 32 partners, 12 of them representing farmers and advisors.

The last decade has seen an explosion of interest and investment in the use of Agricultural Digital Technologies (ADSs). The use of ADSs is seen by many as an opportunity to increase the economic and environmental performance of the agricultural sector. In spite of considerable public and private investment, uptake and use of ADSs by EU farmers has been limited, especially among small and medium farms. These farms require cost-effective DATs that help them increase their environmental and economic performance and cross the digital divide. The overall objective of the Farmtopia project is to democratize digital farming by creating a paradigm shift in the way ADSs for small farms are created, deployed and paid for. This will be achieved by a) fostering co-creation of ADSs to ensure they will solve real problems and fit the needs of small farms; and b) lowering the cost for both farmers and ADSs providers, by creating a set of reusable software modules, a number of business and governance models, and identifying public provision of infrastructure that can enable scale-out of ADSs. Using a multi-actor approach, Farmtopia will engage farmers, ADSs providers, farm advisors, scientists, policy makers, AKIS actors and other relevant stakeholders in 18 Sustainable Innovation Pilots (SIPs) in at least 15 countries across Europe, and guide them in co-creating, deploying and piloting innovative ADSs while designing, adapting and validating appropriate business and governance models to support them (such as the French CUMA model, which is embraced by >225.000 farmers). The focus will be mainly on specific crops and livestock for which current ADS provision is inadequate as well as on crops that are of regional importance, strengthening resilience, sustainability and food security across Europe. 9 SIPs have been pre-selected and 9 more will be awarded through an Open Call, enabling a dynamic response to a changing policy and technology landscape.