The food and wine growing region of Sussex presents fertile ground for growers and education centres to adopt foundational technologies in the sustainable intensification of their products, helping to achieve food security, reduce carbon and use energy efficiently. Sussex Councils are actively working with Growers and Education stakeholders, conducting research, understanding sector ambitions and current connectivity constraints.
Total project funding amount: £3,799,641
Project date(s): -
Category: Government Funded
Location(s): West Sussex County Council - Sussex (East and West)
Status: Open
Growing Sussex 5G Innovation Region will co-develop foundational technology use cases with telecoms and technology partners, education centres and commercial producers to develop future farming and growing practices that increase sustainable food and drink productivity; provide a qualified, digitally skilled workforce; develop sector-supporting products and services; foster a 5G ecosystem through innovation and data sharing at education centres with suppliers and adopters; create demand for scalable expansion of 5G/wireless infrastructure and explore the commercial models to enable more food and drink producers to invest in digital connectivity.
Putting education at the centre of their approach will ensure the workforce is expectant of using technology in their workplace, generating a cyclical demand within the sector for investment. With complementary test and trial opportunities in ‘real world’ commercial growing sites, they will show telecoms suppliers the compelling need to provide replicable, affordable wireless connectivity.