The key to securing long-term food security is investing in innovative technologies like alternative proteins, said experts at IPI’s AgriFood Innovation Webinar.

When countries around the world went into lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19, it revealed vulnerabilities in many of the processes we take for granted in everyday life. The food system—dependent on a complex web of supply chains spanning the globe—was particularly hard hit, as consumers flocked to supermarkets to stock up and unharvested food crops languished in abandoned fields.

With blockchain applications running the gamut from voting to genomics, it’s clear that there’s more potential to be uncovered for this emerging technology.In 2017, Bitcoin was the word on everyone’s lips when blockchain came to mind. Within a year, the price of a single Bitcoin had surged from US$830 to nearly US$20,000. As we now all know, this historic peak was quickly followed by the burst of the Bitcoin bubble.

Automation for Safety and Productivity in ManufacturingLearn more about three new robot technologies that can revolutionise our future industries

One of the first industries to embrace automation, manufacturing remains on the leading edge of adopting robot technology. Think, for example, of the automotive industry’s move from the assembly line to the heavy use of robotics in the last century. Manufacturing has pushed engineering innovations into the field, as robots increase efficiency, precision and safety, as well as decrease operating errors and costs.

From the Lab to the FarmLearn about three innovations that are changing the way we produce and consume our food.The world’s skyrocketing population, coupled with climatic disasters such as heat waves and droughts, pose significant challenges to our ever-diminishing food supply. The United Nations has predicted a 40% global water deficit by 2030 if we continue our ‘business-as-usual’ way of life.

Technological innovations to maintain physical distance and facilitate contactless communication will help equip workplaces transition to a new normal.The consensus is that 2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenges. Not many would have predicted the extent to which a pandemic of this scale would grip the world, shut down global economies, and force people away from offices and into their homes for the foreseeable future.

Maintaining indoor air quality: challenges and opportunities
The need for clean air indoors has made the indoor air quality market ripe for technological innovation. Download our white paper to find out more.

Extracting value from food wasteWith nature as their north star, Singapore-based food technology startup KosmodeHealth is finding plant-based solutions for the agri-food and biomedical industries.It is estimated that a third of all the food grown for consumption ends up going to waste. This wastage largely stems from the disposal of by-products generated by food processing, such as the barley grains that are no longer used after brewing beer. These by-products are actually high in protein and fibre but are currently mainly ‘up-cycled’ into animal feed and fertilisers.

Diving into a world of sustainabilityThe Environmental & Water Technology Centre of Innovation aims to help industry partners translate ideas into innovations that support a more sustainable environment.The pursuit of economic advancement has sometimes come at the expense of the natural world. While industrial growth has undoubtedly lifted millions out of poverty over the last few decades, environmental degradation in the form of air pollution and global warming are threatening to erode those gains.

Flexing towards the final frontier
Bendable and transparent, flexible sensors could bring electronics into the multibillion-dollar medical device and athleisure industries.

The electronics and microchips that have enabled the information revolution may have found their way into everything from toys to tech gadgets, but their hard and metallic nature have kept them away from the final frontier: the human body.