The digital revolution reaches the agricultural sector
In the new episode of our podcast “Connecting the RURAL to the world”, Pedro Abad, CEO of Asteo Red Neutra, talks with an indisputable reference in the application of technology to the primary sector: Carlos Piñeiro, director of ADA (Animal Data Analytics) and recently appointed member of the Academy of Veterinary Sciences of Castilla y León.
Throughout the interview, we discover how data analytics, artificial intelligence and connectivity are transforming farms and livestock operations, proving that the agribusiness sector can lead the technological vanguard at the same level as any other industry.
ADA: 25 years translating data into decisions
Animal Data Analytics (ADA) was born more than two decades ago with a clear purpose that has remained intact over time, adapting to new technologies. Carlos Piñeiro sums it up perfectly:
“We’ve always tried to help producers, cattlemen, veterinarians, companies make better use of their data.”
The company’s success lies in not only focusing on veterinary knowledge, but in merging very different profiles -mathematicians, data scientists, engineers and telecoms- to create real solutions at the farm level. Piñeiro defines it with a very accurate concept:
“And there is, as they teach us veterans in the faculty, a hybrid vigor, that is, bringing together different sources of knowledge, which also serve for something in practice, gives it a great added value.”
The agricultural sector as a reference in national innovation
A job well done is rewarded. In 2023, ADA was recognized nationally as the SME of the year in digitization and innovation, an award presented by His Majesty the King in competition with companies from all technological fields in the country. For Carlos, this award has a very powerful message for the rural world:
“The fact that it was an SME, let’s say from the agri-food or agricultural sector, the fact that it received this recognition also says that people from the agricultural sector can do as well as anyone else.
Artificial intelligence and the raw material: data
We live in an era of hype about Artificial Intelligence, but ADA warns against building the house from the roof up. Before applying complex algorithms, governance and quality of information are essential. Technology only makes sense if it helps the three pillars of sustainability: business efficiency, environmental care and social welfare.
Carlos Piñeiro leaves us with a brilliant reflection on the true value cycle of information:
“Data in itself is nothing unless it is transformed into something. Data is the raw material… It has to be transformed into something that a human head knows how to interpret and with that knowledge it is transformed into a better decision.”
And it issues a clear warning about the hasty use of new tools without a solid foundation:
“Because artificial intelligence only amplifies what you already bring as a base. If your system is not good, if it’s deficient, the only thing it’s going to amplify, amplify is that.”
The human factor and the new “Data Spaces”.
For this whole ecosystem to work, connectivity – such as the one we promote at Asteo Red Neutra – is the road on which these advances circulate. But technology is useless without people. As Piñeiro says, “a tool is only as good as the way it is used”.
In addition to the human factor, security is the big barrier holding many farmers back. This is where the innovative European-driven “Data Spaces”, designed to ensure information sovereignty, come into play:
“The data space what it seeks is precisely that business and activities are developed around the data economy […] It is as if whoever has that data put it in a safe deposit box in a Swiss bank and gives the key only to whoever he wants for as long as he wants.”
From Madrid to La Losa: Quality of life in the village
The episode concludes on a very personal note. Despite his international and technological background, Carlos Piñeiro is a great defender of the quality of life offered by the rural world as opposed to the big city, breaking stereotypes thanks, in large part, to the facilities of today’s telecommunications.
“I come from Madrid, although I’ve been living in Segovia for 35 years, and what happened is that I’ve become a total villager.”
🎧 If you want to discover how data is revolutionizing the livestock world and why connectivity is vital for our countryside, don’t miss the full episode of “Connecting the RURAL to the world”.
