The internet of things can be used to address global sustainable development challenges such as increasing crop production by 70% to feed the estimated 9 billion or more who will inhabit earth by 2050. Image credit – Flickr/ Andrew Newill, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
IoT Sensors Key to Developing Global Sustainability
Connecting objects and devices through the Internet of Things (IoT) can help solve the greatest challenges of our time, from cutting emissions to feeding a growing population, said Alicia Asín, CEO and co-founder of Spanish technology company Libelium, which makes IoT hardware.
‘This technology can help to solve global sustainable development challenges,” Asin said. “For instance, given the growth in global population (predicted to reach nine or 10 billion people by 2050), we need to increase crop production by 70% or we will be unable to feed the whole planet.”
Asín won second place winner for the 2018 EU Prize for Women Innovators.
‘The first step to improving something is measuring it,” Asín said. “In agriculture, using sensors to measure the levels of moisture or fertilizers in soil can reduce the need for irrigation or fertilizers and therefore increase productivity.”
IoT will help communities and farms proceed in business development in a more logical way, according to Asín. Instead of following tradition, the technology allows for generating data that can be measured and used to influence social and political decision-making.
“If you’re the mayor of a city and decide to implement a congestion charge or restrict access to diesel vehicles, but you cannot demonstrate the levels of pollution, citizens will think the decision came down to political or ideological reasons,” Asín said. “But if you can back up the decision with data, then that’s working towards more transparency.’
Helen Massy-Beresfor wrote the story. Read more at horizon-magazine.eu
Leave A Comment