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Looking for inspiration on driving technology adoption and innovation? Look no further than Western Canada’s agriculture industry.
For those who don’t work in agriculture, the sector’s embrace of new technology and innovation may seem like a recent development. But as Wilson Acton points out, it’s been going on for generations.
“Farmers, out of necessity, have had to be rapid adopters of technology to survive tight margins as farms got bigger and bigger,” Acton told CollisionsYYC host Tyler Chisholm in a recent interview. [Tune in to 6:11 above]
Acton, who is Chief Commercial Officer at AgTech startup Verge, and Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs & General Counsel at data services firm Whipcord, says other industries could learn a lot from Western Canada’s agricultural (aka “AG”) industry because many businesses are already managing vast amounts of data fed from machines connected to the web via sensors.
“You climb into a modern day tractor and you’re going to see the equivalent of about six iPads all running [different] aspects of the tech,” says Acton. “It’s more like running a spaceship than that old-school analog tractor.”
When it comes to innovation driving transformation in Western Canada, Acton believes the agriculture industry is already well ahead.