The Agricultural Research Council - Institute for Soil Climate and Water (ARC-ISCW) has received two licences for an artificial intelligence (AI) application called RapAnalyst.
The licences, valued at $100 000 (R640 000), were donated to the non-governmental organisation by Raptor Solutions Australasia, developer of RapAnalyst.
The AI application transforms data relating to agricultural factors such as the weather and soil conditions into actionable, understandable information, says Raptor CEO Carl W"ocke. "It`s a free-thinking device. The main aim for us was to take AI technology and make it relevant to the business environment."
The solution also offers an automated and more accurate alternative to traditional procedures when analysing data, and will also allow for the incorporation of more than one set of data at once. "To use our technology smartly, you have to partner it with people who have a good understanding of the environment it will be used in," W"ocke adds.
One of the main benefits for the ARC-ISCW is that the application will improve the institute`s ability to process and interpret data, says ARC-ISCW sustainable rural livelihoods programme manager Professor Robin Barnard. "Scientists are good at generating data, but they`re not always able to analyse all of it. I think it`s clear to see that this application has a lot of potential for the ARC-ISCW."
Initial results look promising, says ARC-ISCW division manager of agrometeorology Reinhard Kuschke. "This was our first run, and we have realised that there are so many possibilities with this technology that we need to refine our training process for using it."
The ARC-ISCW was set up in 1902 to achieve the sustainable and integrated use and management of the natural resources soil, climate and water.
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