Paris, 2 November 2004


EFITA newsletter / 182 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


Call for papers: EFITA / WCCA 2005 Joint Conference
+ The 5^th Conference of the European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and Environment and
+ The 3^rd World Congress on Computers in Agriculture and Natural Resources
Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal, 25 - 28 July 2005
See: http://www.agriculturadigital.org/efitaandwcca2005


EFITA prize ‘Making a difference’
>>> Background
The EFITA Prize is designed to stimulate research on the application of ICT in agriculture, food and the environment which will deliver demonstrable benefits to practitioners in these and associated areas. That is, research which will actually make a difference, which will improve profitability and competitiveness or improve the environment or the welfare of animals.
Nominations will be invited via the EFITA National Member Organisations (NMOs) and the submissions will be judged by a panel selected from the EFITA Council, chaired by the President.

>>> Prizes will be awarded in two classes:
- The ‘Junior Prize’ will be for projects undertaken as part of PhD or MSc studies and is aimed at encouraging young researchers to apply their talent and expertise to real issues.
- The ‘Senior Prize’ will be for projects undertaken by more experienced researchers and will encourage greater focus on practical problems facing the industry.
The prizes will be awarded every two years at the biennial conference and the winners will be allocated a conference slot to present their work at the conference.

>>> Eligibility
To be eligible the projects must meet the following criteria:
- They must be complete or due to be completed between the date of the previous and next conference. To be eligible for the 2005 prizes, project completion must be in the period from July 2003 to July 2005.
- They must be focussed on the EFITA subject areas of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, food or the environment.
- They must have a European focus, including the new member states (NMS) and the Associated Candidate Countries (ACC).
- They must be submitted by an individual who is a member of an EFITA national member organization (NMO). Where a project is submitted by a research team, at least one team member must be a member of an EFITA NMO.

>>> Judging Criteria
The judging panel will assess each project against the following criteria:

The project achieving the highest overall mark in each of the two classes will be judged the winner and the second highest will be designated the ‘Reserve’.

>>> Prize
Each winner will receive a certificate and an invitation to present his or her research project at the next EFITA conference. The prize will include the conference fee and the individuals will receive assistance with travel and accommodation costs.

Although group entries are welcome, the conference expenses and fees will only be paid for one individual in each class.

>>> Judging Panel
The judging panel will comprise;
- The current EFITA President
- The current EFITA General Secretary
- Two nominated members
For the 2005 prize the nominated members will be Rolf A.E. Mueller from the German NMO (GIL) and Miguel de castro Neto representing the host country.

>>> Submission and Closing date
The submission should be in the form of an abbreviated paper of not more than 3000 words and should address the five judging criteria as described above.
Submissions should be sent to Andy Offer by Email at Andy.offer@adas.co.uk
The closing date for submissions for the 2005 prize will be Friday 8^th April 2005.


Next AGRIMMEDIA seminars in Paris
- 18 November: GPS in Agriculture
- 8 December: Agricultural ICT in North America by Prof. A. VIAU from Laval University in Québec (Canada)
Contact: Guy WAKSMAN
E-mail: waksman(a)acta-informatique.fr


Question about EDI in Agriculture
Is EDI a typically French data exchange type or is it internationally accepted? Is there a www link with more information?
Contact: Wim VANDEN AUWEELE
E-mail: wvandenauweele(a)bdb.be

Answer: EDIFACT et ebXML are internationally recognised norms.
See: http://www.unece.org
See: http://www.edifrance.org (for France)
French agricultural organizations and IT companies are working since 1992 on different messages (field, soil, milk analysis, farm description, etc.). The ad hoc working group called AGRO EDI Europe is know submitting its proposals to CEN European Committee for Standardization.
See: http://www.agroedi.asso.fr
See: http://www.cenorm.be/cenorm/index.htm
Contact : Gaelle CHERUY
E-mail: gcheruy(a)agroedi.asso.fr


Promotion of EU agricultural products outside the EU
See: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/04/1147&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en


Agricultural Policies in the International Context: Facts and Fiction
See: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/04/433&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en


The clean life!
I recently picked a new primary care physician.
After two visits and exhaustive lab tests he said I was doing "fairly well" for my age.
A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him,
"Do you think I'll live to be 90?"
He queried, "Well, do you smoke tobacco or drink beer or wine?"
"Oh no", I replied. "I've never done either."
Then he asked, "Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?"
I said, "No, I heard that all red meat is very unhealthy."
"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf / sailing / ballooning / motorcycling / rock climbing?"
"No I don't", I said.
He said, "Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or sexually fool around?"
"No", I said. "I have never done any of those things."
He looked at me and said, "Then why do you give a damn if you live to be 90?"
Contact: Mick HARKIN
E-mail: harkin(a)iol.ie


About the EFITA mailing list
You can use the efita moderated list (>2600 subscribers) to announce any event / product / web site / joke (!) related to IT in agriculture, environment, food industry and rural areas
If you do not wish to receive our messages, please see: http://www.efita.net to remove your e-mail address f