The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) and the technology company JIG presented the National Digitization and Wine HUB to the media this morning. The UAV Enterprise Project association, of which Drone by Drone is a part, has been integrated into this innovation HUB.
It is a common space to share the technological needs of the Spanish wine sector with the technological offer, in which drones or RPAS play a relevant role, placing special emphasis on the process of identification and analysis of needs, acceleration of the digitization process , capture of technological trends, training and dissemination.
During the presentation, carried out in collaboration with Agrobank, the general director of the FEV, José Luis Benítez, explained that the idea of launching this platform arose already before the pandemic began as one of the objectives included in the Plan Strategic of FEV 2019-24, accelerating today the needs of digitization of the sector due to the Covid19 pandemic. Its creation seeks to respond to the current problems of the sector and its specific business needs, especially in times of uncertainty such as the current one, defining those needs where technology and innovation can provide solutions and numerous improvements.
In this first phase, the HUB Steering Committee will be made up, on the sectoral side, by Familia Torres, Ramón Bilbao, Raventós Codorniu, Pernod Ricard Winemakers Spain, Pago de Carraovejas, Osborne, González Byass and Bodegas Franco-Españolas. For its part, the technological field will be represented by the companies Hispatec, Arsys, Satec and UAV Enterprise Project, the association for the promotion and technological development of applications using drones in which the drone operating company of Bizkaia is integrated. In addition, a representative of the General Subdirectorate for Innovation and Digitization of the Ministry of Agriculture will also participate in the meetings.
For his part, the general director of JIG and executive coordinator of the HUB, Ignacio Gurría, has detailed the priority areas of work of the HUB, extracted from a questionnaire to the companies of the FEV on problems and technological challenges of the sector at a transversal level, the The main needs go through administrative simplification, digitization of documentation, implementation of teleworking and cost control and traceability of the production process. The rest of the needs have been divided into four main areas of the vineyard wine business, processing and production, marketing and marketing, as well as temporarily including an area related to Covid that will try to find solutions in the short term.
It is in the area of vineyards, processing and production where the role of precision agriculture using drones takes on special importance, providing innovations in processes and optimizing resources, both financial and environmental. UAV Enterprise Project, as an association made up of drone operators from all over Spain, will cover the application of this discipline throughout the national territory, offering and developing solutions adapted to the needs detected or that may arise.
The presentation was closed by the General Director of Rural Development, Innovation and Training of the Ministry of Agriculture, Isabel Bombal, noting that the creation of the HUB comes at an "ideal time" in the context of a new Multiannual Financial Framework of the CAP and the arrival of Next Generation funds from the EU, which consider innovation and digitization as priority and cross-cutting objectives for the agri-food sector.
