Agriculture technology: Atlanta challenges the world for solutions

Atlanta, growing by leaps and bounds, is actively looking for solutions for meeting food demands of the future

By Wayne Labs, Senior Contributing Technical Editor

From seed production to farming to food processing, agriculture technology (AgTech) is fast becoming an answer to growing global food shortages. By 2050, projected food demand is expected to increase anywhere from 59 to 98 percent, according to CBInsights.

The city of Atlanta has decided to get an early start on finding solutions to future food shortages. And, it needs your help.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber, in partnership with the city of Atlanta, Invest Atlanta, the Atlanta Beltline and Georgia Power, is actively searching for the most innovative AgTech solutions that can be applied to help future food shortage problems.

“As Atlanta goes through tremendous growth, we want equity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do,” says Cynthia Curry, Director of IoT for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “The goal of the IoT.ATL AgTech Challenge is to unearth new, viable food resilience solutions for our city and other cities as they scale.”

To improve food resilience at home and abroad, the IoT.ATL AgTech Challenge will select six solutions to tackle this issue via IoT. Startups (from anywhere in the world) are encouraged to collaborate to provide one complete and innovative AgTech solution. The selected startups will get access to a 20-foot shipping container along the Atlanta Beltline to pilot their AgTech over the course of 12-months as part of Atlanta’s Demonstration Project program.

Duluth-based agricultural equipment manufacturer AGCO is providing the shipping containers.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber and City of Atlanta are developing partnerships with community-based organizations to ensure the fresh produce grown in the IoT.ATL AgTech Challenge Pilot is received by those needing it the most.

In addition to test space along the Atlanta Beltline, winning startups will receive mentorship and guidance from the Atlantic civic, corporate and technology community during the pilot.

“Invest Atlanta’s Demonstration Project provides startups with opportunities for proof of concept, which can be helpful in a critical stage of a startup’s life cycle,” says Dr. Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta. “Engaging the next generation of agricultural technology startups in the IoT.ATL AgTech Challenge gives entrepreneurs the chance to test and validate their technologies over 12 months in a real-life urban setting. Our partnerships with entrepreneurs have the potential to not only improve our city’s health, environment, and economy, but also to change the world.”

For more information or to get started, visit the IoT Atlanta website.

KEYWORDS: agriculture food security

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Wayne Labs has more than 30 years of editorial experience in industrial automation. He served as senior technical editor for I&CS/Control Solutions magazine for 18 years where he covered software, control system hardware and sensors/transmitters. Labs ran his own consulting business and contributed feature articles to Electronic Design, Control, Control Design, Industrial Networking and Food Engineering magazines. Before joining Food Engineering, he served as a senior technical editor for Omega Engineering Inc. Labs also worked in wireless systems and served as a field engineer for GE’s Mobile Communications Division and as a systems engineer for Bucks County Emergency Services. In addition to writing technical feature articles, Wayne covers FE’s Engineering R&D section.