2315315

Nsf Engines: North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine -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.- Subawards are planned for this award.

North Dakota State University

THE GOAL OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, "NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION REGIONAL INNOVATION ENGINES", IS IDENTIFIED IN THE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PUB_SUMM.JSP?ODS_KEY=NSF23200

47.084 - NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Fargo, North Dakota 58105-5750 United States

Single Zip Code

23-200