EFITA newsletter / 188 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


Merry Christmas and happy new year 2005


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


Next AgriMMedia Seminars in Paris
- 3 March 2005: GIS in French Agriculture
- 31 March 2005: EU regulations 178/2002 & 852/2004: traceability and hygiene
Contact: Guy WAKSMAN
E-mail: waksman(a)acta-informatique.fr


GAEC = Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions
The introduction in 2005 of the cross-compliance is one of the main challenges of the CAP reform. The cross-compliance is an additional control / sanction mechanism aimed at reinforcing the respect by farmers of a number of European Directives or Regulations grouped in 3 areas (Environment, Public animal and plant heath, Animal welfare - ref. annex III of Regulation 1782/03) and of Good Agricultural and Environmental conditions (GAECs, ref. annex IV of this Regulation)…
See:  http://agrifish.jrc.it/marspac/CwRS/meetings/2004-11_budapest.htm
Contact: Florence BAILLARIN
E-mail: florence.baillarin(a)spotimage.fr


Multilingual lexicon of the new CAP (from a JRC document)
See: http://www.acta-informatique.fr?d=5885


Which usefulness of ICT in agriculture?
Do you have any statistics regarding the use of computers and the internet by EU farmers? I am also interested to find out the views of EU farmers per country on the usefulness of ICT in agriculture.
Contact: George ADAMIDES
E-mail: adamides(a)arinet.ari.gov.cy

A.: You will find a few elements at: http://www.acta-informatique.fr?d=5586


Task Force Data Dictionary of ISO/TC23/SC19
ISO/TC23: "Tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry"
ISO/TC23/SC19: "Agricultural electronics"

The aim of the Task Force Data Dictionary of SC19 is to develop an international, internet-based Data Dictionary for the working areas of SC19. To promote this development, a workshop will take place in Düsseldorf on 1-2.2.2005, to which international speakers and organisations will be invited so that we can draw up a draft for SC19 there.
Topics and talks:

1. International Data Dictionary for the agricultural sector. Goals, expectations and requirements (basic talk)

2. The current state of development of Data Dictionaries in various areas and special requirements of a joint, international Data Dictionary from the viewpoint of
a. WG1
b. WG2
c. WG3 'Animal Identification'
d. Ontological lexicon
e. EDI-AGRAR Netherlands
f. EDI-AGRAR Germany
g. Other organisations such as ICAR, FAO, etc.

3. Development of a data model for a joint Data Dictionary Requirements and proposals for implementation

4. The WEB presentation of the Data Dictionary. Requirements and implementation options

5. Applications for using the Data Dictionary on the basis of web services using the data transfer protocols they are based on plenum and working groups

6. Implementation (organisation; organising body; costs; financing options)

7. Content management of the Data Dictionary in the area of farming suppliers. Procedure for the development of an international Data Dictionary (responsibilities; routines; organisation; tools for effective work; forming working groups and allocating responsibilities)

8. Initial activities of the working groups
Point number 6 is so far limited to the animal production area, because I do not know the specific requirements in the other areas. Any proposals for the agenda are welcome.

See: http://isotc.iso.ch/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=2563&objAction=browse&sort=name
Contact: Christian PAULSEN
E-mail: paulsen(a)lkv-wl.de


ISO working group 'Animal identification' (ISO TC23\SC19\WG3
I am indeed the secretary of the ISO working group 'Animal identification' (ISO TC23\SC19\WG3). This working group has developed standards for RFID (radio frequency identification) equipment that is used for animal identification and also this group has developed (for the International Committee for Animal Recording ICAR) test procedures for testing the RFID equipment.
At the moment the working group is developing standards for the so called advanced transponders.
Our institute is also one of the ICAR test agencies that tests the RFID equipment and reports the results of the tests to ICAR.
There are working groups active that standardise the industrial use of transponders, but I am not aware of other agricultural RFID group. There is an agricultural group working on the standardisation communication within agricultural buildings.
See: http://www.agrotechnologyandfood.wur.nl
Contact: Pieter HOGEWERF
E-mail: Pieter.Hogewerf(a)wur.nl


Momma Bear
Baby Bear goes downstairs and sits in his small chair at the table; he looks into his small bowl. It is empty. "Who's been eating my porridge?!!" he squeaks.
Papa Bear arrives at the big table and sits in his big chair. He looks into his big bowl, and it is also empty. "sWho's been eating my Porridge?!!" he roars.
Momma Bear puts her head through the serving hatch from the kitchen and yells... "For Pete's sake, how many times do we have to go through this with you idiots? It was Momma Bear who got up first, it was Momma Bear who woke everyone in the house, it was Momma Bear who made the coffee, it was Momma Bear who unloaded the dishwasher from last night, and put everything away, it was Momma Bear who went out in the cold early morning air to fetch the newspaper, it was Momma Bear who set the damn table it was Momma Bear who put the blooming cat out, cleaned the litter box, and filled the cat's water and food dish, and, now that you've decided to drag your butts out of bed listen good, cause I'm only going to say this one more time...
"I HAVEN'T MADE THE BLOODY PORRIDGE YET!!"
Contact: Myriam AIT-AISSA
E-mail: myriam.ait-aissa(a)acta.asso.fr

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