I’m pleased to announce that Tivix has recently been selected to build a new software platform for the European Commission. The project officially begins on December 1st as part of a consortium on a five year contract. We’ll be building an innovative new web/mobile/cloud platform for connecting constituents across all 28 member countries of the European Union. The project will be managed by Dariusz Fryta, who runs our European office.

Here’s the funny thing: it’s for pig and poultry production. That’s right – now Tivix is going to learn to be expert in pigs and chickens. 🙂

Actually, the project is a whole lot more interesting than that, so let me see if I can sketch the big picture here: 

The European Union is currently on an ambitious mission to become “most dynamic competitive knowledge-based economy in the world”, and they have several current programs focused on improving the “knowledge triangle” – better connecting of research, education and innovation. 

Meanwhile, food production is an area of concern for all the countries in the EU. Consumers have high expectations of food quality in Europe, and there’s growing concern about the number of meats now being shipped in from China and other outside countries. From the perspective of the EU, they would like improve the capacity of their own farmers and producers to be self-sufficient, sustainable in their methods, and able to meet the domestic food needs of the member countries. 

As in any sector, one of the challenges is connecting the research being done by leading universities to actual practitioners in the field. A group of university researchers in the UK may discover ground-breaking new methodologies in sustainable pig farming, but how does a family farmer in Romania hear about these methodologies and understand how to implement them?

With a total budget of nearly €12 million, our partners on this project include 15 research universities across Europe, and we’re creating a knowledge platform for building and disseminating key research, best practices, and relevant data on pig and poultry production. Most importantly, the platform will foster better cross-pollination between players in the sector. Not only will that Romanian farmer be able to get the latest in university research, he’ll also be able to be working in his field, snap a picture of something on his mobile, and transmit it directly to researchers and veterinarians for advice.

Providing this kind of real-time multi-device platform will be a key component to achieving the EU’s mission to become a “dynamic competitive knowledge-based economy”. Tivix is honored to have been selected. It’s going to be a great project.