A few words about latest technologies and “Data Privacy” concerns in agriculture...
The 5G high-bandwidth cellular technology is enabling Agri-tech companies to have live streaming from cameras installed in farms or onboard drones and store farm data in the cloud. Considering the required infrastructure, most of this data will be collected by only a few giant corporations that already own the rest of our everyday-life data.
They say the goal is to feed farm data into AI/machine/deep learning algorithms and provide real-time analytics. They claim that, in the long run, these models and algorithms are going to be as good as experienced growers! On the other side, the focus is on developing agricultural robots that will replace field workers and potentially growers.
One term that you would often here these days is “edge computing” as opposed to “cloud computing”, a relatively older concept. Simply, edge computing means that you will process data where it is collected (edge devices on the network) instead of sending to the cloud (software-defined environment at datacenters) and processing there. This reduces the load on the network. It is worth mentioning that, these days, very powerful edge devices are available providing agriculture with a plethora of ways to utilizing advanced technologies with less risk to privacy.
Assuming that a grower is interested in investing in this type of technology, this means that they can have the option of NOT sending their data (or the critical part of it) to the cloud. They just need to ask for an architecture that allows them to limit access to their data by limiting the hardware itself. Even though companies usually promise “Data Privacy”, we all know how it has turned out to be in other sectors. I’m talking about a solution that does not involve hiring an attorney!
Data privacy is an important topic and is taken very seriously in many industries. In agriculture, however, nobody seems to care enough to ask growers how they feel about technology, sharing their farm data or to clarify their legal rights for that matter.
So, I encourage you to think about the following questions:
5G technology; how do you think it is or will be affecting agriculture?
Data privacy in agriculture; do you see any benefits in sharing your data?
Edge vs. cloud computing; can we have one without the other (like old days)?
Private vs. public networks; is it necessary for farms to be connected to the Internet?
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