Three universities, the Vienna University of Technology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, and University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, have developed the digital.twin.farm project on the basis of joint research projects. The highly interdisciplinary nature of the themes addressed requires the expertise and experience of researchers from a wide range of domains. The digital.twin.farm project has successfully these competencies and working on the development of forward-looking concepts for sustainable and resilient agriculture.

Aims of the initiative:

• Establishment of the first "digital twins" for agriculture in Austria

• Establishment of an experimental infrastructure for use in the future that supports interdisciplinary research and teaching at an international level at the experimental farms of BOKU in Groß Enzersdorf and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in Kremesberg (VetFarm)

Current project status:

• Analysis of the status quo
• Development of an overall concept
• Establishment of the experimental infrastructure
• Design and development of prototypes at the experimental farms
• Implementation of a digital twin cycle

Potential synergies with other higher education institutions:

• Collaboration on additional use cases
• Use of the research infrastructure
• Networking and knowledge exchange

More information:

• Digital twins are connected to real objects in real time and allow representations to be created of the objects and their context.
• It is possible to enhance mirrored processes by using artificial intelligence and to continuously improve them by tracking real-time interactions and integrating the resulting learning effects.
• The model behaves exactly like the original object during testing.
• Security and data protection pose highly significant challenges and constraints.