AACCI’s plenary speakers were carefully chosen to share unique insights and viewpoints on the challenges facing the cereal grain science industry. We invite all attendees to unite together to turn thoughts into action by attending these thought provoking sessions.
Sunday, October 23
3:00 - 4:30 pm Opening General Session with Plenary
Big Data and Open Data are Changing Paradigms in Science
Johannes Keizer, Strategic Partnerships Lead in the GODAN Secretariat, Information Systems Officer at FAO of the United Nations
GODAN (Global Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition) is an initiative that has been set up to promote open data in the area of Agriculture and Nutrition. The presentation will analyze the meaning of open data and the different shades of openness that we encounter in reality. It will outline what GODAN does to develop the capacity of institutions that want to make their data open.
Wednesday, October 26
8:30 - 10:00 am General Session with Plenary
Global Food Security: What Modern Science Can Contribute and What
Stands in the Way
Nina V. Fedoroff - Evan Pugh Professor Emerita, Penn State University, and Senior Science Advisor, OFW Law, Washington, DC.
The 20th century saw a dramatic expansion of agricultural production through the pervasive spread of agricultural science and technology, principally fertilizers, mechanization, and improved seeds. While the current problem for global food security is one of inequitable distribution, biophysical factors will increasingly constrain our ability to provide food for the 9-10 billion people expected by century’s end. These will arise as a result of climate change, loss of arable land and limitations on the availability of water. Fedororff will discuss the potential of science and technology to overcome such constraints and the cultural factors that are likely impede success.
