Ignacio González, CEO of the Nueva Pescanova Group; and Pilar López, president of Microsoft Spain. PHOTO: Microsoft

Nueva Pescanova and Microsoft will work to digitize aquaculture

SPAIN
Monday, March 08, 2021, 05:20 (GMT + 9)

•     The companies have signed a collaboration agreement whereby Microsoft becomes Pescanova's technological partner to develop solutions that seek to optimize aquaculture processes and improve animal health and welfare through continuous R + D + i.

•     The Digital Platform for the Nueva Pescanova Group's aquaculture digitization program will be based on cloud services, IoT (Internet of Things) and Microsoft Artificial Intelligence, including Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.

•     Aquaculture techniques will be modernized with the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, which will allow to control 100% of the processes automatically and in real time, improving the efficiency and sustainability of crops, encouraging business predictability and guaranteeing food traceability.

Nueva Pescanova aquaculture (Photo: Nueva Pescanova Group)

The Nueva Pescanova Group and Microsoft have signed a collaboration agreement, whereby both companies will work together to promote the Group's digital transformation and sustainability, within the framework of its Strategic Aquaculture Plan 4.0. The objective is to advance, among others, in the promotion of innovation projects for the protection of the marine environment and guarantee the sustainability of the species with the development of new technologies in aquaculture, as well as in the improvement of production processes. And, above all, to encourage digital culture in the countries where Pescanova develops aquaculture, especially in Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and through the Group's aquaculture R&D center, the Pescanova Biomarine Center in O Grove (Pontevedra).

Ignacio González, CEO of the Nueva Pescanova Group, and Pilar López, president of Microsoft Spain, have signed this alliance this morning, through which both companies will work on the development of innovative solutions to improve the cultivation of species, such as the vannamei shrimp or the Galician turbot. This modernization in current cultivation techniques, through the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, will allow to control 100% of the processes automatically and in real time. In this way, it will be possible to improve the efficiency and sustainability of crops, facilitate business predictability and guarantee food traceability and improve animal health and welfare.

In this way, it seeks to guarantee the sustainability of wild species found in the marine environment in the long term, reducing the pressure on fishing grounds and thus guaranteeing sustainable, safe, healthy and controlled resources and, in turn, guaranteeing the protein supply from the sea. According to FAO data, 47% of the seafood we consume worldwide already comes from aquaculture.

Prawn cultivation in Central América (Photo: Nueva Pescanova Group)

The agreement also contemplates a commitment by both companies to training in digital skills, promoting the training of professionals of the Nueva Pescanova Group who work in aquaculture, so that they adapt their work methodologies, so far mostly manual, to the use of the tools for monitoring water, environmental conditions, life cycle of species in the aquatic environment, etc. using digital tools and methods. For this, it will have the advice, support and technologies and professional services of Microsoft, which has specifically designed a disruptive technological platform for Nueva Pescanova, in order to create innovative experiences, aimed at enhancing high productivity and environmental protection. This Digital Platform for the Aquaculture 4.0 transformation program of the Nueva Pescanova Group is based on cloud services, IoT (Internet of Things) and Microsoft Artificial Intelligence, such as Azure and Microsoft 365 and aims to revolutionize the seafood industry through world level.

Turbot cultivation in Galicia (Photo: Nueva Pescanova Group)

Likewise, the Nueva Pescanova Group, through the Pescanova Biomarine Center, and Microsoft will explore synergies to promote, connect and generate new business scenarios that stimulate the aquaculture industry, promote innovative experiences for research on the cultivation of marine species and contribute to the development of entrepreneurial projects, through their respective incubation and acceleration programs.

As Ignacio González has commented, “innovation efforts will be focused on developing aquaculture initiatives that respect the environment and create formulas that make it possible to demonstrate sustainability in all processes of the value chain. This commitment is key for both companies, which have spent years betting on policies based on efficiency and sustainability ”.

For her part, Pilar López pointed out that “Digitization and sustainability are the two axes around which to reimagine the world and relaunch the economy. This global alliance with the Nueva Pescanova Group is a good example of this. We will work together to optimize aquaculture processes and improve the conservation of marine species through technology ”.

In addition, the strategic agreement includes other joint actions that favor the promotion of new technologies among the Group's stakeholder groups. Examples of this are the celebration of Microsoft Pescanova Day, a day that will bring together the main experts in knowledge and technologies of the sea and in which the latest advances in innovation and marine sustainability will be shared; or the organization of a Hackathon Day in Pescanova, where Microsoft, its collaborating companies and technology startups, will compete to contribute the best ideas to achieve the sustainability objectives of both companies in the coming years.

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