Aporta Challenge 2019
We are organising the second Aporta Challenge. With ‘The value of data to the agri-food, forestry and rural sector’ as its theme, this time round the challenge is aimed at identifying new ideas and prototypes based on open data, which help to improve the efficiency of those sectors, which are fundamental to wealth and job creation.
Our goal is to encourage the direct reuse of information generated by the public sector in order to improve that sector, incentivising the talent, technical ability and creativity of the participants.
The objective of the Aporta Challenge 2019 is the development of prototypes of applications, solutions and/or services which, using the open data made available by PAs, demonstrate how the reuse of open data can improve the agri-food and forestry sector and the rural environment in Spain.
Any individual or legal entity, company or research team that satisfies the following requirements and provides the relevant documentary evidence for doing so may take part in this competition:
- Being an individual of legal age having full capacity to act and residing in the European Union.
- Being a legally constituted legal entity or company having capacity to act and having its registered address in the European Union.
- Be a working group or research team having its registered address in the European Union.
- Being up to date with the payment of tax and, where applicable, social security obligations.
- Being the owner of the proposal submitted or having the originator’s consent to take part in the Challenge.
- Not falling within the scope of the exclusion provisions contained in article 13.2 of Law 38/2003, of 17 November, the General Subsidies Act.
One spokesperson is to be appointed per proposal. When the applicant is a legal entity, company, working group or research team, a spokesperson must be selected to represent the team for all relevant purposes.
Those interested in taking part must submit their application to participate using the application form and must satisfy all of the conditions specified in the rules for the Aporta Challenge 2019.
See the Aporta Challenge 2019 rules
The Aporta Challenge will reward the three prototypes with the highest score from the Panel according to the criteria established. The prizes are:
- First place: € 4,000
- Second place: € 3,000
- Third place: € 2,000
The prizes will be presented at the end of the Aporta Meeting to be held in the final quarter of 2019.
The Aporta Challenge is developed through two phases. For Phase 1, it is only necessary to submit an original idea proposal by 23 May 2019. If selected, participants will have 4 months to develop the project during Phase 2 (between July and October 2019).
To participate in Phase 1 of the Aporta Challenge 2019, applicants need to fill in the application form available on the Red.es website.
Only one idea per participant will be accepted. If a participant submits various proposals, only the last one will be considered.
The deadline for submitting ideas is 23 May 2019. Applications received after the closing date will not accepted, and nor will those received by any means other than the specific form provided for this competition on the website.
What information is required for filling in the application form?
In order to fully understand and assess the proposed ideas, participants need to provide the following information:
- Proposal title.
- Description of the idea: summary of the main aspects to be highlighted (maximum 250 words).
- Type of solution: details need to be given of the final format of the project, i.e. whether it is a service, a study, a website, an application for mobile devices, a view, etc.
- Differential value: description of two differentiating aspects that highlight the value of the proposed idea.
- Evidence of the relevance of the proposed idea: argumentation that shows to what extent the proposed idea responds to the current situation, has a marked innovative character, is original or offers a critical and constructive perspective, based on lessons learned (max. 250 words).
- Quality and clarity of the proposed idea: It is important that the proposed idea has a concise objective, is well-structured, reflects the candidate’s experience in the specific area on which it is based, etc. (max. 250 words)
- Economic and social impact of the proposed idea: The economic and social impact of the proposed idea needs to be justified by indicating its possible return, and number of likely recipients, as well as the ease of replication (max. 250 words)
- Viability of the proposed idea: Links to the data sources used should be included. If necessary, the transformations that these data will require must be indicated. (max. 250 words)
- Improving the quality of life of women and/or young people: The impact of the idea on the quality of life of women and/or young people in the rural environment will be positively assessed. (max. 250 words)
In addition, participants who present themselves as part of a team must indicate the name of the team and appoint a spokesperson.
Paula Sánchez Chaparro
Of the 40 proposals submitted during PHASE I: Ideas competition “The value of data to the agri-food, forestry and rural sector”, the 10 ideas chosen by the jury are presented below.
We would like to thank all the participants for their efforts and the high quality of the proposals received.
A predictive model which offers the market an objective assessment of the prices of fish caught. The publication of this short-term information makes it possible to know how supply is going to change over time, which may help to rationalise the exploitation fishing grounds by allowing the fleet to know in advance what demand is like in the fish market. Moreover, fishermen can use the results to find out what the price of products is in the different fish markets and redistribute the sale of those products in whatever way they think appropriate.
This proposal combines economic analysis relating to automated prediction with machine learning techniques, based on raw data from three sources which influence the catch rate in the fishing grounds: the characteristics of the fleet which operates in the fishing grounds, the meteorological factor in the geographical area of the fishing grounds and other socio-demographic factors associated with consumers.
A mobile application which allows users to programme irrigation and fertilisation, in an optimal manner, using recycled water, that is, from treated waste water. In this case, it has been designed specifically for olive groves, given their social and economic importance to the country.
Managing waste water is complicated because of the need to control certain parameters, such as the nutrient content. The application makes it possible to manage irrigation and fertilisation together, taking into account those particular features, with the aim of increasing the yield from agricultural production and reducing its environmental impact. To that end, it uses specific data from the plantation and open data from SiAR (Sistema de Información Agroclimática para el Regadío (agricultural weather information system for irrigation) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), the Andalusian network of agricultural weather stations (Red de Estaciones Agroclimáticas de Andalucía), the Spanish national meteorological agency (Agencia Estatal de Meteorología: AEMET) and eltiempo.es.
A mobile application which allows users to programme irrigation and fertilisation, in an optimal manner, using recycled water, that is, from treated waste water. In this case, it has been designed specifically for olive groves, given their social and economic importance to the country.
Managing waste water is complicated because of the need to control certain parameters, such as the nutrient content. The application makes it possible to manage irrigation and fertilisation together, taking into account those particular features, with the aim of increasing the yield from agricultural production and reducing its environmental impact. To that end, it uses specific data from the plantation and open data from SiAR (Sistema de Información Agroclimática para el Regadío (agricultural weather information system for irrigation) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), the Andalusian network of agricultural weather stations (Red de Estaciones Agroclimáticas de Andalucía), the Spanish national meteorological agency (Agencia Estatal de Meteorología: AEMET) and eltiempo.es.
A website which facilitates access to and the use of data from the National Forestry Inventory (Inventario Forestal Nacional: IFN), by creating a five-star Linked Open Data (LOD) source using the IFN itself and the GeoNames geographical database. This new five-star data source facilitates advanced queries, integration with other data sources and the enrichment of data by third parties.
Specifically, the web application consists of an interactive map on which areas of the map can be selected easily to show the inventory data. Its possible benefits include the monitoring and analysis of forest risks such as plagues and fires, the development of the forest bioeconomy and the conservation of biodiversity.
An application to promote the initiation, development and maintenance of viable business models in the rural sector. The aim is to bring together, on a single platform, relevant data which make it possible to see what opportunities there are, as well as facilitating interaction and cooperation between different actors interested in the progress of the rural sector: workers, associations, companies and public authorities.
To develop the pilot project, the autonomous region of Aragon has been used as a reference, using demographic indices and other data, such as the distribution of municipalities by areas and the aid and subsidies general database. Among other things, the tool makes it possible to prepare socio-demographic profiles of the population of a specific area, in order to find out whether the product to be offered would have commercial prospects. It also makes it possible to see the possible means of financing, support and/or collaboration, and also to find out what companies are hiring certain profiles of workers.
An application to promote the initiation, development and maintenance of viable business models in the rural sector. The aim is to bring together, on a single platform, relevant data which make it possible to see what opportunities there are, as well as facilitating interaction and cooperation between different actors interested in the progress of the rural sector: workers, associations, companies and public authorities.
To develop the pilot project, the autonomous region of Aragon has been used as a reference, using demographic indices and other data, such as the distribution of municipalities by areas and the aid and subsidies general database. Among other things, the tool makes it possible to prepare socio-demographic profiles of the population of a specific area, in order to find out whether the product to be offered would have commercial prospects. It also makes it possible to see the possible means of financing, support and/or collaboration, and also to find out what companies are hiring certain profiles of workers.
An application to promote the initiation, development and maintenance of viable business models in the rural sector. The aim is to bring together, on a single platform, relevant data which make it possible to see what opportunities there are, as well as facilitating interaction and cooperation between different actors interested in the progress of the rural sector: workers, associations, companies and public authorities.
To develop the pilot project, the autonomous region of Aragon has been used as a reference, using demographic indices and other data, such as the distribution of municipalities by areas and the aid and subsidies general database. Among other things, the tool makes it possible to prepare socio-demographic profiles of the population of a specific area, in order to find out whether the product to be offered would have commercial prospects. It also makes it possible to see the possible means of financing, support and/or collaboration, and also to find out what companies are hiring certain profiles of workers.
A web application which helps with finding the best location for setting up and/or developing a business in the rural world. It includes a list of predefined criteria for describing the qualities, characteristics and services of a particular rural area, such as, for example, the climate, the services in the area, the infrastructure and the support available.
The application includes a chatbot which, using natural language, converses with users to obtain the list of criteria which the town they are looking for must fulfil. It then displays a map of all of the localities which fulfil the criteria of interest to the user. Along with the map, it offers a series of filters to allow the user to refine the search.
For the first version of the web application, the autonomous region of Castile-León has been chosen, using data such as support for young people and female entrepreneurs, the number of schools, the rail network map and the number of people seeking work.
Web-based system for estimating the cubic capacity of poplar groves at local level in La Rioja, although it could be exported to the Ebro and Duero basins. The main aim is to offer poplar growers a prototype capable of providing information on the forest stock of their plots with a view to addressing when to sell the wood.
The system is capable of providing forestry information in real time to any owner requesting it, highlighting the information generated in the Forest LidaRioja operating group. The tool builds on the lessons learnt with regard to forestry applications from LiDAR PNOA in the last 10 years in Spain and applies them to a sector where, currently, all of the trees are still being measured foot by foot.
A web application with an open licence which makes it possible to display a map of the more than 36,000 organic agri-food operators and access their detailed information. The aim is to provide those operators with greater visibility and to facilitate direct contact both between producers and consumers and between the organic businesses themselves. The end consumer will then be able to purchase products directly at their source, removing the intermediaries from the marketing chain. That leads to greater financial gains for the producer and reduces the environmental impact.
The application uses open data sets, such as the register of manufacturers and producers of organic foods in Castile-La Mancha and information from the certification bodies authorised by each autonomous region.
A mobile application making it possible to locate the plots were fertilisation, fumigation or watering is required; the system detects the nearest weather stations of the Murcia Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Development (Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario: IMIDA) and, in real time, provides the meteorological variables needed for the action to be carried out.
The system, which uses a series of algorithms to personalise the variables according to the type of crop, makes it possible to store plots by user so that users can view the variables without having to re-enter details. It also allows users to set alerts for weather incidents of any kind, such as frosts, heatwaves, strong winds, etc.
Web search engine for locating sustainable destinations, based not only on the hotel but also on the surroundings. Its aim is to promote responsible and sustainable tourism and so help to preserve the planet. The application takes various factors into account in order to establish whether a trip is sustainable: the means of transport to be used, the CO2 which it will produce, noise pollution at the location, etc.
The search engine uses open data from datos.gob.es (air quality, noise pollution, environmental inspection reports, municipal sustainability indicators and others) and other open data sources (wikipedia, LOD cloud, etc.).
As part of the Aporta Challenge, the three prototypes receiving the highest score from the panel in the second phase of the challenge have been awarded prizes.
A predictive model which offers the market an objective assessment of the prices of fish caught. This information provides an idea of what demand at the fish market is going to be like, which enables fishermen to make real-time decisions and helps with the rationalisation of fishing grounds.
This proposal incorporates financial analysis into automated prediction using machine learning techniques, based on raw data.
Team: Mariano Luis Nieves
Web-based system intended to estimate the volume of poplar groves at the local level in La Rioja, although it could be exported to other regions. The main aim is to offer poplar growers a prototype capable of providing information on the forest stock of their plots with a view to selling wood.
The system is capable of providing forestry information in real time to any owner requesting it, highlighting the information generated in the Forest LidaRioja operating group.
Team: Jose Luis Tomé Morán
A web application with an open licence which makes it possible to display a map of the more than 36,000 organic agri-food operators and access their detailed information. The aim is to provide those operators with greater visibility and to facilitate direct contact both between producers and consumers and between the organic businesses themselves.
The application uses open data sets, such as the register of manufacturers and producers of organic foods in Castile-La Mancha.
Team: EcoVeo (Ana María Bello and Antonio Pichardo)
A mobile application for mushroom pickers in Castile-León, which could be scaled up to include the rest of Spain. The application shows, in real time, the species of edible wild mushrooms of socio-economic interest (HSC) that are growing in the region.
The application is based on data analysis and predictive analysis techniques using different variables which condition the growth of each HSC species: time of year, characteristics of the location (soil, vegetation, etc.) and climatic conditions (precipitation and temperature).
Team: Fundación Cesefor (Rodrigo Gómez, Jose Miguel Altelarrea, Roberto Rubio)
A mobile application which allows users to programme irrigation and fertilisation, in an optimal manner, using recycled water, that is, from treated waste water. In this case, it has been designed specifically for olive groves, given their social and economic importance to the country.
The application uses specific data from the plantation and open data from SiAR (Sistema de Información Agroclimática para el Regadío (agricultural weather information system for irrigation) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), the Andalusian network of agricultural weather stations (Red de Estaciones Agroclimáticas de Andalucía), the Spanish national meteorological agency (Agencia Estatal de Meteorología: AEMET) and eltiempo.es.
Team: Water and energy (Carmen Alcaide, Rafael González, Irene Fernández, Emilio Camacho and Juan Antonio Rodríguez)
A website which facilitates access to and the use of data from the National Forestry Inventory (Inventario Forestal Nacional: IFN), by creating a five-star Linked Open Data (LOD) source using the IFN itself and the GeoNames geographical database. Advanced queries, integration with other data sources and the enrichment of data by third parties are thus facilitated.
In particular, the web application consists of an interactive map which facilitates the monitoring and analysis of forestry risks.
Team: LinkedForest (Guillermo Vega, Felipe Bravo, Cristóbal Ordóñez, Irene Ruano, Adolfo Ruiz, Miguel Luis Bote, Eduardo Gómez, Jose Miguel Giménez-García, Jose Ignacio Asensio and Yannis Dimitriadis)
An application to promote the initiation, development and maintenance of viable business models in the rural sector. The aim is to bring together, on a single platform, relevant data which make it possible to see what opportunities there are, as well as facilitating interaction and cooperation between different actors.
To develop the pilot project, the autonomous region of Aragon has been used as a reference, using demographic indices and other data, such as the distribution of municipalities by areas and the aid and subsidies general database.
Team: EmpreRur (Jose Antonio Pérez and Julián Valero)
A web application which helps with finding the best location for setting up and/or developing a business in the rural world. The application includes a chatbot which, using natural language, converses with users to obtain the list of criteria which the town they are looking for must fulfil.
For the first version of the web application, the autonomous region of Castile-León has been chosen, using data such as support for young people and female entrepreneurs, the number of schools, the rail network map and the number of people seeking work.
Team: Everis Digital Government Institute (Carmen De Castro, Javier Almingol and Alberto José Álvarez)
A mobile application making it possible to locate the plots were fertilisation, fumigation or watering is required; the system detects the nearest weather stations of the Murcia Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Development (Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario: IMIDA) and, in real time, provides the meteorological variables needed for the action to be carried out.
The system, which uses a number of algorithms to personalise the variables, makes it possible to generate alerts for any kind of weather incident.
Team: OTPC-IMIDA (Manuel Erena, Jose Antonio López and Ignacio Ballesta)
Web search engine for locating sustainable destinations, based not only on the hotel, but also on the surroundings. Its aim is to promote responsible and sustainable tourism and so help to preserve the planet.
The search engine uses open data from datos.gob.es (air quality, noise pollution, environmental inspection reports, municipal sustainability indicators, etc.) and other sources of open data (Wikipedia, LOD cloud, etc.).
Team: Elwin Huama
