Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals with a digital platform: experiences from the vitivinicultural sector

Abstract

Emerging technologies, such as Digital Platforms, Internet of Things, remote sensing and Big Data, are going to significantly influence the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, pursued by all United Nations Member States starting from 2015. As the whole agricultural sector is transforming in a more knowledge-intensive system, precision agriculture could play a significant role to achieve the SDGs, by reducing environmental impacts of agriculture and farming practices, increasing the profitability of the farm and thus improving the quality of life for farmers Based on these premises, the aim of this article is to present VITIS, a digital platform, for the management of vineyard water and nitrogen stress, developed by the Operational Group SMART VITIS and tested in 4 pilots located in Marche Region. All the functions and modules of the platform were built by following a Design Thinking approach. This approach started from the analysis of the needs of the winegrowers, the end-user of the solution. While a focus group, made of agri-experts was conducted to receive feedback from the test phase of the platform. This study illustrates how this approach can be a useful tool to develop targeted digital solutions for farmers with low digital skills.