Topcon Agriculture signs IBM Garage agreement to develop AI for agriculture

TURIN, Italy – August 29, 2019 – Topcon Agriculture and IBM announce a partnership to develop artificial intelligence dedicated to IT agriculture. The agreement was signed Monday, June 24 at the opening of the Italian IBM Garage in Milan, with the goal to develop software for agriculture that integrates the use of artificial intelligence and brings an evolution to all the phases of the farming cycle.

Fabio Isaia, CEO of Topcon Agriculture, joined in the IBM Garage opening and spoke about the collaboration. He explained how a multidisciplinary group of IBM Garage experts will work closely with Topcon Agriculture to make artificial intelligence a fundamental part of all agricultural processes with the new Topcon Agricultural Platform (TAP). Isaia said integrating artificial intelligence and Ag-dedicated software into TAP will enable relevant and actionable advice to further optimize operations.  

“The innovative approach we are following using IBM Watson is bringing together software architects, engineers, designers, software developers and data scientists who are working closely with our team of agronomists and precision agriculture experts,” said Isaia. “I am looking forward to see the outcome of this joint effort in the fields. We believe TAP will be a great asset for every farmer seeking for further optimization of his business.”

TAP is designed to provide a digitized and open farming ecosystem with the goal of maximizing crop productivity while minimizing the use of resources; ensuring greater sustainability, crop quality and complete traceability of food, from the field to the table. 

For more information about Topcon Agriculture, visit topconagriculture.com, always one step ahead in technology and customer benefits.

About IBM Garage 
ibm.com/garage 
The IBM Garage™ is IBM's center for high-impact, client-centric innovation.  The IBM Garage engages diverse, empowered teams that partner with you to apply purposeful technologies to quickly create and scale new, innovative ideas that can dramatically evolve your business to its next chapter.

Foundational to the IBM Garage is a unique methodology that curates the best practices in the industry, layered with a depth of experience only IBM can bring.  Combine that with the right people — from across IBM, your team and our ecosystem — useful data, applied technology and intentional spaces, the IBM Garage can drive unprecedented transformational change.

With an IBM Garage experience, you can move faster, work smarter, ideate more rapidly and fundamentally change the way you work.  

About Topcon Agriculture Group 
Topcon Agriculture Group is a division of the Topcon Positioning Group, headquartered in Livermore, California, USA (topconpositioning.com). The global Topcon Agriculture Group (topconagriculture.com) headquarters is located in Turin, Italy, with its North American regional headquarters in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Topcon Agriculture Group provides advanced IoT connected field and farm management solutions for aftermarket and OEM customers in the agriculture industry, integrating high-precision hardware, software and data services to bring efficiency and enhance productivity to every phase of the farming operation. Its product lines include Topcon, Digi-Star, RDS Technology, and Norac. Topcon Corporation (topcon.com), founded in 1932, is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7732).