Category: Partners

Applying organization: Institute of agricultural economics

The Institute of Agricultural Economics develops and applies econometric models that can be used in digital farming and are focused on: 1) the assessment of the effects of different measures under the RDP and CAP; 2) the impact of investment support for the agricultural holdings in the 2014-2020 period on their economic viability; 3) quantitative models for economic evaluation of the activity of the agricultural holdings; 4) demand and supply research, etc. In this respect, the models that are suitable for digital farming are: model of the production function and others. econometric models in “Semi-market farms sustainability” scientific project, teleph.: Prof. Dr. D. Nikolov (2009-2010); “Effects of Investment Support of the agricultural holdings in the 2014-2020” scientific project, Prof. Dr. D. Nikolov (2015-2016); different types of logistics models in (Probit model) in Agricultural Risk Management scientific project; Prof. Dr. Nikolov (2011-2012), a partial equilibrium model of the demand for and supply of public goods generated by agriculture in the “Provision of public goods from EU agriculture and forestry” (international project – PROVIDEE ), Horizon 2020, Prof. Dr. D. Nikolov (2015-2018); statistical model for the distribution of European subsidies under the coupled support scheme in: “Analysis of vulnerable sectors – fruits, vegetables (field and hothouse production) and livestock breeding (buffalo, cattle, sheep and goat); Research task assigned by Ministry of agriculture and food (2004). These models can be used by including the results of their application in the digital management of agricultural holdings and in the preparation of different policies in the field of agriculture and rural development at regional and national level.

Taking into account the contemporary trends, members of the team (A. Mitov and D. Mitova) work on eco-management issues. A holistic approach to analysing, evaluating and improving ecomanagement in agriculture based on the New Institutional Economy has been developed. There is a new definition of agro-eco-management as a specific public order system that regulates the behaviour and relationships of the various agents with respect to the natural environment.

Partner organization: Agricultural University – Plovdiv

At the Agricultural University of Plovdiv, with a number of new researches (T. Radev, D. Nikolov, K. Kostenarov), studies have been conducted to improve the management of agricultural holdings in the theoretical-methodological, methodological and practically applied aspect. An approach to assess farmers’ management decisions in risk conditions has been developed. On the basis of a comparative analysis, the factors (conditions) determining the obtaining of better results from the activity of agricultural holdings are derived. Members of the team (D. Nikolov, M. Anastasova-Chopeva, T. Radev, P. Borissov) have researches

on the implementation of innovations in agricultural holdings in response to the growing need for accelerated introduction of agricultural innovations in the period 2014-2020 in line with the objectives of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP). A definition of innovation in agriculture has been given. The processes related to the emergence of innovations in agricultural systems are examined. The innovation policies and legislation in the country are analyzed in detail. The innovation activity of agricultural holdings is analyzed. In this connection, a special methodological tool has been developed and applied in the adapted version of the Rodgers model for studying the innovative attitudes of farms. A member of the team (M. Anastasova-Chopava) has many years of experience in the development and application of mathematical and statistical methods in the field of agrarian economy, as evidenced by published publications.

Partner organization: Institute of Animal Science – Kostnbrod

The experience of the Institute of Animal Science – Kostinbrod, as a consultant in the development of an integrated cloud-based platform for collecting, storing and processing data, will also be essential for the implementation of this project. The construction of such a platform, including the extraction, logistics and marketing of agricultural products, requires the formation of a team of specialists in different fields. Such a unified information system includes a number of different models of data collection, storage and processing.

In livestock breeding methods are used to limit the number of controlled indicators and the information is collected for one or two indicators or using a representative sample for a larger number of indicators. This is done in two main ways: by collecting information from a certain percentage of individuals (used in the livestock industry to guide the farmer to the stage reached for breeding) and complete measurement with individual animal tracking at specific time periods (day, week, month, etc., in conducting scientific experiments and selection work). Today there are software solutions such as neural systems that can handle large amounts of information. However, they are practically unenforceable due to their high cost.

The experience of The Institute of animal science as a consulting organization in the construction of the integrated information system designed to serve several basic animal breeding sectors shows that the creation of such cloud-based systems has to go through a pre-planned stage of a basic conceptual matrix on which to subsequently built the overall vision of the software package that operates with the information.

The work of the Kostinbrod Institute for Animal Breeding in the last three years consists of concluding contracts with private individuals, owners of start-up companies, for the development of clustered integrated systems in livestock breeding. The first of these contracts is for consultancy with Grafuer as a part of their FRACTALS project (Future Internet Enabled Agricultural Applications – one of the 16 accelerators funded under the FIWARE ACCELERATOR Program – Future Internet Accelerator Program of the European Commission).

Partner organization: New Bulgarian University

The academic staff of the Department of Telecommunications, New Bulgarian University has considerable potential and experience in the realization of projects mainly related to: the communications sector, the radio communications (2/3 / 4G), the satellite and navigation networks, the management and the management of the radio frequency spectrum, specialized facilities for radio frequency resource management and fixed infrastructure, etc. Experts in the department have created and participated in projects concerning the strategic planning and development of telecommunications in Bulgaria, such as: broadband development strategy in Bulgaria part of the e-Europe 2005 plan, radio spectrum planning for the digital terrestrial television network, radio frequency harmonization spectrum with that of the NATO member states, control of the radio emission limit values and a number of international projects, the largest of which are: I3E – Encouragement no innovation in the sector of industrial informatics and embedded computer systems by building a network of cooperation, financed under the “Southeast Europe”, SFERA – development of public private partnership in providing telecommunication connectivity services and other, including under the Research Fund, etc.

The new areas of research in the department include: a transition to Ipv6, embedded systems and IoT, sensory networks for the utility sector, cloud services and technologies, open source, high performance commutation systems, telecommunication services, customer service automation through chattels and artificial intelligence, intelligent non-technological solutions and transport systems, etc. Most of the Department’s experts are leading, nationally and internationally recognized experts in the field of Information and Telecommunication Technologies. The Department of Telecommunications has developed the ITU-Geneva, United Nations Center for the Improvement of Managerial Staff. Experts at the department are in constant contact with the international working groups related to planning and allocation of the limited orbital and ground frequency resources to the ITU, etc., the department has expertise in electromagnetic compatibility, precision measurements (sensing networks), building data collection systems, remote monitoring, building connectivity networks in remote and difficult to access areas, etc.

A number of projects (Georgi Petrov) have been developed and implemented by the Development of Broadband Infrastructure Strategy in the Republic of Bulgaria, prepared by experts from the

Department of Telecommunications of the NBU, commissioned by the Information and Communication Technologies Development Agency at the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The development of “Methodology for measuring the performance and quality of digital terrestrial television broadcasting services according to DVB-T technology”, prepared by experts at the Department of Telecommunications of the NBU, commissioned by the Agency for Information and Communication Technologies Development at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Republic of Bulgaria.

Organization of the ITU Geneva Training Center (ITU Geneva) for the following topics: Technology trends, Spectrum management, Regulatory Issues Program at NBU, Sofia for the English-speaking countries of Central and Eastern Europe.