A clean environment is a human right. A sustainable future is only possible if we preserve biodiversity, protect ecosystems and value nature's contributions to humanity in science. Together, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) want to drive forward the transformation of our society towards a sustainable bioeconomy.

The two research institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 31 January 2024. With this mutual declaration of intent, they are taking the first step towards a long-term research collaboration. As Germany's leading business-oriented research institution in the field of innovative software technologies, DFKI brings extensive infrastructures and methods of artificial intelligence to the table. Like ATB, it focuses on application-orientated basic research. As one of the leading international agricultural technology institutes, ATB focuses not only on technical and process engineering research, but also on the development of new technologies and management strategies that intelligently, knowledge-based and adaptively link and control agriculture and the resulting highly diverse bioeconomic production systems.

The aim of the planned cooperation between the two partners is to profitably combine these competences. With a cooperation agreement, they will drive forward transfer-oriented research and developments in the field of artificial intelligence, particularly in the context of agrifood systems and agricultural robotics. Building on the work in the Joint Lab Artificial Intelligence & Data Science, which was founded by ATB with the University of Osnabrück and in which the DFKI and the Leibniz Innovation Farm for Sustainable Bioeconomy (InnoHof) coordinated by the ATB are associated partners, the planned cooperation is intended to expand the infrastructure for AI in agriculture and bioeconomy, promote scientific and personnel exchange and strengthen the training of students and young scientists in these areas. The joint work will benefit from a strong network between industry and research in the agricultural sector in Lower Saxony. With the InnoHof in Brandenburg it profits from a unique real laboratory in Germany for establishing and implementing agricultural AI research.