Is innovation in smart agriculture responsible?

My name is Boris Biao, and I'm a PhD student in the joint research unit on Markets, Organizations, Institutions and Stakeholder Strategies (MOISA) at Montpellier SupAgro. I'm interested in the concept of "responsible innovation" applied to innovations in digital agriculture.

I have a degree in agricultural economics, with a master's in Agricultural Development, Environment and Food Economics (ECODEVA) from Montpellier SupAgro.

This thesis is an opportunity for me to strengthen my skills in scientific research methodology, but also to answer a societal question in the face of the development of an innovative sector. The idea is to explore the processes of innovation and development of digital tools in agriculture with regard to the dimensions of responsible research and innovation. The question we are asking is whether a more "responsible" innovation would be better adopted by farmers?

• Starting date: November 2018
• University : MUSE Montpellier Université d’Excellence / Institut Agro
• PhD school: EDEG – Economie et Gestion
• Scientific field: Management
• Thesis management: Leila Temri, UMR Moisa, L'Institut Agro et Katherine Gundolf, MRM, Université de Montpellier / Montpellier Business School
• Funding: #DigitAg – L'Institut Agro
• #DigitAg : Cofunded PhD – Axe 2 – Challenges 5 et 8

Keywords: Responsible innovation, digital agriculture, ICT, adoption

Abstract: Smart agriculture is likely to contribute to the improvement of sustainability. However its environmental and social impacts are sometimes denounced. In fact, with the appearance of controversial technologies, such as biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, but also ICT in general, the concept of responsible innovation has emerged at the beginning of the 2000’s, and since gained attention in the world, especially in developed countries, such as those situated in Europe. Responsible innovation refers to the inclusion of the stakeholders into the innovation process, and to the anticipation of social and environmental effects an innovation may induce. Given this, we may ask our self the following question: Does responsible innovation lead to a better adoption of digital agriculture innovations? To answer to this question, it will be necessary: 1) To clarify concepts and definitions (responsible innovation, digital agriculture). 2) To draw up an inventory of the advantages and negative impacts digital technologies may have, especially in agriculture. 3) To identify relevant case studies, in the field of digital agriculture innovations, to describe innovation processes, and characterize them in terms of responsibility, using qualitative methods. 4) To assess the adequacy between the innovation process and users adoption. 5) Finally, recommendations could be made for improvement of processes, and a method could be proposed. The case studies will be chosen in the field of smartphone apps for agriculture. Some of them will come from southern countries to enrich the analysis.

Jury compound:

Mme Leïla TEMRI - Institut Agro Montpellier - Directrice de thèse
Mme Sophie VEILLEUX - Université de Laval (Canada) - Rapporteure
Mme Sandrine BERGER-DOUCE - Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne - Rapporteure
Mme Katherine GUNDOLF - Université des sciences appliquées de Haute-Autriche - Co-directrice de thèse
Mme Véronique BELLON-MAUREL INRAE- Institut Convergence DigitAg - Examinatrice
M. Ramonjy DIMBI - Groupe Excelia, Campus de La Rochelle - Examinateur

Contact : babatounde-boris.biao [AT] supagro.fr – Tel: 06.81.67.25.08

Social networks: ResearchGate – LinkedIn – Twitter