The use of data and information becomes increasingly crucial for the agriculture sector to improve productivity and sustainability.
The emerging technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Satellite Remote Sensing, Internet of Things) have allowed the development of Precision Agriculture which, by providing accurate and constantly updated information, helps farmers make better decisions, optimize resources and counter the negative effects of change. Climatic
Agri-Block is a smart contract platform for the agri-insurance industry exploiting Block Chain and Earth Observation technologies to monitor crops growth and health status with global coverage. Agri-Block helps farmers in implementing precision farming improving profitability and supports Insurance Companies in monitoring remotely compliance to contract terms reducing costs. Each data transition is managed with the BlockChain technology improving the trustworthiness of the contract during all its duration
Agri-Block proposes a trustworthy system capable of aiding farmers in implementing precision farming strategies and, at the same time, supporting insurance companies providing the information necessary to assess contract compliance. establishes a win-win mechanism between parties in which each participant get a profit: farmers can reduce operative costs (reduction of resource consumption) maintaining high level of yield and quality. The insurance companies can:
- reduce risks due to uncertainty and low level of situational awareness
- reduce administrative costs, like on-site surveys, that are inevitably charged on insurance premiums
- enable precision damage assessment procedure and claims adjustment with remote analysis
- reduce the number of fraud. Agri-Block is designed and implements a business model that brings benefits to both sides of the B2B chain.
The use of BlockChain technology ensures that the contract between farmers and insurance companies is managed compliant with terms and regulations in a completely transparent and traceable way. The block chain intervenes in the following steps:
- signature of the contract
- creation of the database of satellite images used for remote monitoring using validated and defined calculation models within the contract
- assessment of compliance with contractual terms according to a model defined in the contract
- evaluation of any claims and damages according to calculation models defined in the contract.
Steps ii, iii, iv are those most subject to both human interpretation, error and fraud. The blockchains, on the other hand, guarantees that these steps have been carried out in a standardized way, as envisaged in the contract signed in step i) by increasing trustworthiness and transparency for the benefit of both farmers and insurance companies.
This project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under project Block.IS (grant agreement No 824509).
