Urban and rural connectivity

Funding notification for research in topic areas “City.digital” and “Agriculture.digital”

Currently available technologies are not up to the task of solving the parking situation in cities or optimizing the use of fertilizer in modern agriculture. In February 2018, Bavaria’s then Minister of Economic Affairs Ilse Aigner awarded the “FutureIOT” research alliance a funding notification for 2 million euros from the Bavarian Research Foundation to support practically oriented research in the “City.digital” and “Agriculture.digital” topic areas.

The goal of the research alliance, which involves over 30 partners from industry and research, is the joint development of comprehensive Internet of Things (IoT) solutions from sensors to an open IoT platform. Existing urban challenges such as insufficient parking and elevated levels of air pollution will be overcome through the further development and combination of individual technologies in the domains of communications, sensor systems, positioning, information security and IoT platforms. And in agriculture, IoT-supported ground analysis will improve the use of fertilizers, while IoT solutions will also help with livestock management, for instance by allowing animals’ health and fertility to be monitored not just in the barn but also in fields