Transformative 
potential of big 

data and 
technology





But is the Big Data 
revolution democratic?



The Vision

The data revolution is changing the role, reach and modus operandi of 
research and development organizations. It represents an 
unprecedented opportunity to find new ways of reducing hunger and 
poverty, but also has its risks: unequal access to and use of information 

How do we close equity gaps instead of widening them? We propose 
ANOTHER BUSINESS MODEL for the use of these techniques. 



Goal: to harness the capabilities of Big Data to 
accelerate and enhance the impact of 
international agricultural research, and solve 
development problems faster, better and at 
greater scale

Organise: Make CGIAR + partners data truly 
open and available, revolutionize how 
agricultural data is collected and managed
Convene: Bring big data to agriculture and 
agriculture to big data by partnering the 
CGIAR with 42 Big Data powerhouse partners
Inspire: Solve development problems with big 
data; generate new international public goods 
around big data in agricultural development



Data driven, climate smart agronomy



Hey Cigi, 
when should I plant my maize?

 Real-time decision support 
system for farmers

 Easy natural language as an 
interface

 Smart artificial intelligence 
trained by CGIAR and partners

 Leveraging open, harmonized 
and interoperable multiple 
databases



A complementary bottom-up approach: Information from commercial fields - Taking advantage of modern information technologies !!!

Climate Soil Crop
management Productivity

/Quality

Site-specific
information

 Yield and quality limiting
factors

 favorable/unfavorable
Climatic patterns

 Optimal site-specific 
management practices 

Massively exciting, transformational science

“The most magical aspect of big data is Smart Data: the 
application of statistical analytics and machine learning to 
data sets to find interesting connections and signals in all 
the noise.” ”. Philip Brittan. http://tmsnrt.rs/1EmFXTT

http://tmsnrt.rs/1EmFXTT


9

Stepwise development in agriculture

Años

T 
ha

201x19XX

Imported technology

Locally adapted agronomy

Data driven agronomy and 
technology development

Locally adapted technology


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	But is the Big Data revolution democratic?
	The Vision
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