ENTIRE EDIH Ireland reposted this
AI & the Valley of Death in Agri-Food – one hour was never going to be enough! Fantastic questions and a really engaging discussion at our Synergy Days 2026 plenary in Kilkenny today. We brought together agri-tech companies, investors, farmers, European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs) and innovation support organisations to explore one of the biggest challenges facing AI innovation in agri-food: how do we move from promising technology to real-world deployment and scale? What became clear is that the Valley of Death is about much more than funding. It’s also about adoption, regulation, market readiness, trust and, importantly, how we connect the different supports already available to SMEs. Europe has invested significantly in innovation infrastructure and support programmes - But are we making it easy enough for SMEs to navigate the journey from testing and validation to their first customer and beyond? For me, that’s the question we need to keep asking. A huge thank you to our panellists for sharing their experiences, challenging assumptions and contributing to such an important discussion - Jerome O Connell , Laura Clifford , Padraig Hennessy , Raffaele Giaffreda , Daniel Copot and David Bowles. One hour was simply not enough – but hopefully this is the beginning of a much bigger conversation! #SynergyDays2026 #EDIH #AgriTech #DigitalInnovation #Agrifood #InnovationEcosystems #TURISE #SETU #RegionalInnovation SETU Research, Innovation and Impact | ENTIRE EDIH Ireland | Enterprise Ireland | Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science | Southern Regional Assembly | Walton Institute | AgTech Ireland | AgriTech Ireland | Munster Technological University | agrifoodTEF |
