Bioeconomy 2 min

INRAE and WUR reinforce their collaboration on digitalisation, biotechnology and robotics

PRESS RELEASE - As part of the state visit of the President of the French Republic to The Netherlands, France and the Netherlands have expressed their willingness to strengthen the European strategic autonomy in an open economy, by signing a Pact for Innovation and Sustainable Growth. INRAE and WUR welcome the adoption of this Pact, which will develop a structural dialogue and boost public-private cooperation in key economic fields for the twin digital and sustainable transitions, including agriculture and food. To support the implementation of this Pact, INRAE and WUR signed today a joint statement to strengthen their existing collaboration on digitalisation, biotechnology, sensing and robotics applied to food, agriculture and the environment, to foster the needed transitions in the agrifood sector.

Published on 12 April 2023

INRAE and WUR are committed to contribute to new dynamics in the collaboration between France and the Netherlands through the Agri & Food dimension of the Pact. The priorities set by the Pact for “ensuring food transition” fit well into the strategies and strengths of INRAE and WUR, as both organisations are actively involved in providing solutions to the transitions in agricultural and food systems in our countries, in the EU and beyond. Besides our scientific activities, the acceleration of knowledge transfer and its translation into concrete innovations together with relevant stakeholders including Agritech and Foodtech companies is a strategic priority for our organisations.

Representing the top leading research organisations at European level in the domain of food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment, the two institutes are very well placed to feed the innovation pipeline of Agritech and Foodtech companies. Since 2014, WUR and INRAE have been involved jointly in more than 140 European research projects, including projects targeting specifically robotics, biotechnology (including plant breeding and animal breeding) and data and digitalisation, such as Data4Food2030 (Developing pathways towards a fair, inclusive and innovative Data Economy for Sustainable Food Systems) and BIOINDUSTRY 4.0 (Research Infrastructure services to promote deep digitalization of Industrial Biotechnology, towards smart bio-manufacturing) funded under Horizon Europe, and AgROBOfood (Business-Oriented Support to the European Robotics and Agri-food Sector, towards a network of Digital Innovation Hubs in Robotics) funded under Horizon 2020.

Based on many years of fruitful and intense collaboration between our two organisations, INRAE and WUR are ready to bring in their expertise and networks in the next steps of the implementation of the Franco-Dutch Pact for Innovation and Sustainable Growth.

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thematic Agroecology

Agriculture and Digital Technology: a white paper by Inria and INRAE to establish the foundations for responsible digital agriculture

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01 March 2022

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thematic Food, Global Health

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26 November 2021