The first year of the ICAERUS project has already flown by!
The 2nd Project Management Board Meeting was a great success. Representatives from each of the 13 participating organizations met at Wageningen University and Research Campus on June 28 and 29th to provide valuable updates and set clear goals and expectations for the upcoming year.
The first day started off with presentations from three new projects that host partner WU are part of and that present exciting potential collaboration and cooperation opportunities:
- FlexiGrowBots (H2020): which aims to build a platform for flexible, heterogeneous multi-robot systems for intelligent automation of precision agriculture operations.
- I-seed (H2020): which aims to develop self-deployable and biodegradable soft miniaturized robots for the detection of key environmental parameters in topsoil and air.
- WildDrone (MSCA): which will form an international training network aiming to revolutionize conservation practices by using autonomous drone technology for monitoring wildlife populations, tracking movement and managing human-wildlife conflict.
What has the project accomplished this year?
- Completed the analysis of drone innovation actor’s needs which included stakeholder surveys and interviews
- Standards, regulations and risks related to drone use were explored and analysed in depth (including PESTEL and SWOT analyses)
- Available drone technologies and data analytics models were identified and assessed
- Developed 5 Use Case plans for conducting and monitoring the domain specific research
- Established the methodology for the socio-economic and environmental impact assessment
- Determined the syllabus and the certification criteria that will be used for the ICAERUS academy
- Created the Dissemination, communication and exploitation strategy
- Launched the 1st PUSH Open Call for Innovation development
- Defined the design and specifications of the ICAERUS platform
- Developed the Data Management Plan
- Initiated cooperation with our sister projects SPADE and CHAMELEON
Roundtable workshop
Use Case Drone Stakeholder Networks
On the second day of the meeting, partner Noosware led a roundtable workshop with the leaders of the project’s 5 Use Cases to discuss and validate the numerical results of the the stakeholder analysis.
The stakeholder analysis was performed on the results of surveys centered on the specific needs of stakeholders and included:
- Categorising the intensity of each specific stakeholder need
- Defining the importance of the source required to fulfil each need
- Qualitative assessment of stakeholders that considered their importance, role and needs
Moving forward, together with the Use Case Demonstrations events, workshops will be planned to discuss and validate results with stakeholders, and identity possible value propositions as well as other entities that may benefit from these value flows.
Next Steps
- The launch of the first PULL Open Call for Farming, Forestry and Rural Challenges
- Further population of the drone data analytics library
- A number of scientific publications and participation in events across Europe, including SmartAgriHubs’ Synergy Days
Stay tuned for more!
