Open Source for Agrifood – Perspectives from Academia and Industry

Date: Thursday, April 24 2025
Time: 11:25-12:35

Moderator: Rob Trice (Partner, Better Food Ventures)

Panelists:

• Priscilla Koepke (CEO, F3 Innovate)

• Colleen Josephson (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Co-Director, Agtech Alliance, UCSC)

• Gabe Youtsey (CIO, UC Agriculture & Natural Resources)

• Drew Zabrocki (International Fresh Produce Association, Fresh Supply Chain of the Future)

Description¶

Over $200 billion of venture capital money has been invested in the agrifood sector over the last decade. There are over 150 dedicated tech incubators, accelerators and venture support organizations around the world dedicated to agriculture. Yet we have yet to solve major challenges related to food production and processing. We need new models of innovation and open innovation is a tool that has been under utilized in a sector with very little profit margin historically. How can we better leverage open software and systems and greater collaboration to meet agriculture’s numerous challenges?