NSF Engines: North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine

NSF 发动机：北达科他州先进农业技术发动机

• 批准号: 2315315
• 负责人: Colleen Fitzgerald
• 金额: $ 1500万
• 依托单位: North Dakota State University Fargo
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-01 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2315315&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Engines; North; Dakota; Advanced

The North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine will advance our nation’s capacity for innovation in advanced agriculture by driving research and commercialization efforts to increase the growth of existing crops, introducing new crops, and monitoring and optimizing crop growth in North Dakota. The NSF Engine’s focus on combining advanced crop data, genetic data, climate modeling and sensor technologies will surpass the current state of practice and our current capabilities. The unique capacity of this NSF Engine and region will apply cutting-edge technologies to public crops that are critically important to the region and nation’s economy yet have had historical underinvestment. The NSF Engine team proposes using real-time decision making and advanced technologies to significantly increase the pace of innovation around crop-related decision making in the agriculture space, referring to this as “innovating at the speed of trust.” This will have profound impacts on the nation’s ability to compete on a global stage given the critical importance of food security and sustainable agriculture. In addition to these significant national impacts, the NSF Engine also has the potential to drive regional economic impacts through working closely with Indigenous organizations, industry, and economic development leaders. The NSF Engine team aims to create a robust, multi-faceted, place-based innovation ecosystem focused on food security while unlocking economic opportunity for regional populations and communities that have been historically left behind by other emerging technologies. If successful, the innovation ecosystem driven by the NSF Engine will result in unprecedented advances in Agricultural Technology (AgTech) by driving new technologies, industry collaborations, and emerging startup companies; creating good jobs across a variety of emerging technologies; and generating greater economic opportunity and shared prosperity to all residents of North Dakota.The NSF Engine will initially focus on the following topic areas related to advancing agriculture and the transition to a real-time monitoring and analysis approach: (1) novel genomics studies; (2) advanced predictive climate modeling; (3) scalable on-farm data collection management and utilization including reconfigurable agile data sensor networks; (4) communication networks, edge and cloud computing, real-time analysis of acquired data via artificial intelligence and machine learning, with a focus on last acre connectivity; and (5) diffusion of AgTech innovation through human-centered approaches. The NSF Engine is assembling a cross-sector team to collaboratively address the needs of the agricultural community and industry as the NSF Engine develops and implements advanced AgTech technologies. This approach will help retain North Dakota’s next-generation farmers and technologists as well as attracting talent regionally and nationally.The North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine led by North Dakota State University, includes an ecosystem of partners with representation from the large agricultural companies, technology companies, farmers, universities (including Tribal Colleges and Universities, and two- and four-year institutions), regional and statewide economic and workforce development organizations (including Engine core partners Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation and the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber Foundation), Tribal organizations, and innovation testbeds. This diverse coalition of partners will be central to R&D, translation, and workforce development efforts.The research and translation goals of the NSF Engine are to: (1) develop and leverage regional expertise to solve agricultural-related challenges aligned with the top identified topic areas; (2) launch and sustain an innovation corridor that meaningfully engages and prioritizes all in the state, including Indigenous and small-farm communities, to grow and develop early-stage technology projects; and (3) generate more substantial investments, technology development, intellectual property activity, startups, and commercial activities to accelerate AgTech. Test beds and programs from Engine core partner Grand Farm will connect innovative companies to the region’s innovation ecosystem. Collectively, these goals will enable this state to become a global leader in advanced agricultural technology innovations and in accelerating regional economic growth.The NSF Engine has the potential to better connect existing efforts and dramatically expand the pathways into emerging careers within AgTech. Partners will include state and local government officials, economic and workforce development organizations, industries, career and technical education programs, Tribal Colleges, and other universities to build training and mentorship opportunities across the state. Specific activities include train-the-trainer programs aimed at creating a new generation of STEM educators; supporting K-12 educators to link digital agricultural topics to foundational STEM classes; and programs that meet trainees where they are with equitable agriculture sector training opportunities. Workforce development activities will prioritize equitable agricultural opportunities across the region of service, including rural and tribal communities, and address industry’s current and emerging needs. Establishing a knowledge network to share and quickly disseminate learning is also a primary goal of the workforce development strategy.The NSF Engine has brought together a strong coalition of partners and has identified close alignment with regional assets and priorities to address food security, an issue of national importance. The inclusive, community driven approach with strong backing from cross-sector stakeholders represents a unique opportunity to build a new model for advanced AgTech development. The NSF Engine has identified critical R&D topic areas that must be advanced to drive agricultural innovations that are accessible throughout the state and across technology topic areas, namely public crops. It will support R&D and translational activities to cultivate an innovation ecosystem of tech companies that will support the nation’s transition to a more climate-resilient advanced agriculture sector, and will drive regional economic growth and opportunity. The NSF Engine’s transformative potential lies in the intentional focus on bringing tribal, rural and farming communities meaningfully into the co-creation to yield a blueprint for the future of advanced agriculture and inclusive economic development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

北达科他州先进农业技术引擎将通过推动研究和商业化工作来提高现有作物的生长、引入新作物以及监测和优化北达科他州的作物生长，从而提高我国先进农业的创新能力。结合先进的作物数据、遗传数据、气候建模和传感器技术将超越当前的实践状态和我们当前的能力，该 NSF 引擎和地区的独特能力将把尖端技术应用于对该地区至关重要的公共作物。和国家经济还没有NSF Engine 团队建议使用实时决策和先进技术来显着加快农业领域作物相关决策的创新步伐，并将其称为“以信任的速度进行创新”。鉴于粮食安全和可持续农业的至关重要性，对国家在全球舞台上的竞争能力产生广泛影响 除了这些重大的国家影响外，NSF Engine 还具有通过与土著组织密切合作推动区域经济影响的潜力。 、工业和经济发展的领导者。 NSF Engine 团队旨在创建一个强大的、多方面的、基于地方的创新生态系统，重点关注粮食安全，同时为历史上被其他新兴技术抛在后面的地区人口和社区释放经济机会。 NSF 引擎将通过推动新技术、行业合作和新兴初创公司在各种新兴技术中创造良好就业机会，为农业技术 (AgTech) 带来前所未有的进步；达科他州。NSF 引擎最初将重点关注与推进农业和向实时监测和分析方法过渡相关的以下主题领域：(1) 新颖的基因组学研究；(2) 先进的预测气候模型；(3) 可扩展的农场数据收集管理和利用，包括可重构的敏捷数据传感器网络；(4) 通信网络、边缘和云计算，通过人工智能和机器学习实时分析获取的数据，重点是最后一英亩的连接；(5) 通过人力传播农业科技创新； NSF 引擎是中心方法。随着 NSF Engine 开发和实施先进的农业科技技术，组建一个跨部门团队来协作满足农业社区和行业的需求。这种方法将有助于留住北达科他州的下一代农民和技术人员，并吸引地区和全国的人才。由北达科他州立大学领导的北达科他州先进农业技术引擎包括一个由大型农业公司、技术公司、农民、大学（包括部落学院和大学，以及两年制和四年制大学）代表组成的合作伙伴生态系统。机构）、区域和联邦经济和劳动力发展组织（包括 Engine 核心合作伙伴大法戈穆尔黑德经济发展公司和法戈穆尔黑德西法戈商会基金会）、部落组织和创新试验台，这种多元化的合作伙伴联盟将成为研发的核心。 NSF Engine 的研究和翻译目标是：(1) 开发和利用区域专业知识来解决与重点确定的主题领域相关的农业相关挑战；(2) 启动和维持创新走廊；有意义地参与并优先考虑全州所有人，包括土著和小农场社区，发展和开发早期技术项目；(3) 产生更多实质性投资、技术开发、知识产权活动、初创企业和商业活动，以加速农业科技发展。 Engine 核心合作伙伴 Grand Farm 的试验台和项目将把创新型公司与该地区的创新生态系统联系起来。总的来说，这些目标将使该州成为先进农业技术创新和加速地区经济增长的全球领导者。NSF Engine 具有以下特点：更好地将现有努力与大幅拓展农业科技新兴职业的途径。合作伙伴将包括州和地方政府官员、经济和劳动力发展组织、行业、职业和技术教育项目、部落学院和其他大学，以在全州范围内建立培训和指导机会。活动包括旨在培养新一代 STEM 教育工作者的培训师培训计划；支持 K-12 教育工作者将数字农业主题与基础 STEM 课程联系起来；以及为学员提供公平的农业部门培训机会的计划。活动将优先考虑各个领域的公平农业机会建立知识网络以共享和快速传播学习成果也是劳动力发展战略的主要目标。NSF 引擎汇集了一个强大的联盟。合作伙伴并确定了与区域资产和优先事项的密切配合，以解决粮食安全这一具有国家重要性的问题，在跨部门利益相关者的大力支持下，这种包容性、社区驱动的方法为建立先进农业科技发展的新模式提供了独特的机会。 NSF 发动机已被确定为关键必须推进研发主题领域，以推动全州和跨技术主题领域的农业创新，即公共作物。它将支持研发和转化活动，以培育科技公司的创新生态系统，从而支持国家向经济转型。 NSF 引擎的变革潜力在于有意将部落、农村和农业社区带入共同创造，为先进农业的未来绘制蓝图。农业这反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。