The webinar “From Test to Field: Connecting AI, Robotics and Digital Services for Agri-Food SMEs”, held on 15 April 2026, was jointly organized by DEDEP.eu, CoordinaTEF and the Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA), highlighting from the outset the importance of coordination across European innovation frameworks.
Within this context, CoordinaTEF played a central role in framing the discussion around system-level alignment: ensuring that AI, robotics, data spaces, European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) and TEFs no longer operate as parallel instruments, but as interconnected components of a single adoption pathway. The event brought together over 60 stakeholders from EU projects, SMEs, startups, industry and research, confirming a key message: the ecosystem already exists, what is needed now is coordination, operational integration, and accessibility. Moderated by Nicholas Ferguson (Trust-IT), the discussion consistently reinforced this shift from fragmentation to structured collaboration.
In the keynote speech, Gaspard Demur (Deputy Head of Unit, AI Innovation and Policy Coordination - EU AI Office) highlighted how Europe already possesses a full AI value-chain ecosystem, from data infrastructures to AI factories and deployment mechanisms. The key challenge is no longer creation, but orchestration: making existing tools navigable, accessible, and usable for industry and SMEs.
This vision strongly aligns with the coordination role promoted by CoordinaTEF, reinforcing the need to connect rather than multiply initiatives.
agrifoodTEF as a cornerstone for adoption
A central contribution came from Raffaele Giaffreda (agrifoodTEF, Fondazione Bruno Kessler), who placed agrifoodTEF at the core of the innovation-to-adoption pipeline. He presented agrifoodTEF as a key operational pillar enabling AI and robotics adoption in the agri-food sector, going beyond experimentation to structured validation and real-world readiness. Through the Catalogue of Services, he outlined how agrifoodTEF provides access to advanced technical infrastructure, harmonised testing methodologies, and specialised expertise to support SMEs in moving from prototype to deployment.
In this sense, TEFs were positioned not as abstract innovation tools, but as concrete enablers of trust, validation, and industrial readiness, bridging the gap between technological potential and field adoption.
From an industrial standpoint, Alessio Bolognesi (FederUnacoma) noted that AI and robotics are already being deployed in real-world applications, while still requiring further consolidation in business models, regulatory clarity and interoperability. These are not structural barriers, but rather typical steps in the maturation and scaling of an evolving system.
Similarly, Hazel Peavoy (Walton Institute) emphasised the increasingly central role of EDIHs as true “gateways” to innovation. The experiences shared demonstrated an ecosystem already capable of supporting companies from the “test-before-invest” phase through to funding access and deployment, generating concrete pipelines and a growing number of companies ready to scale and invest.
An important point concerns the structure of the European agri-food sector. As highlighted by Juho Pirttilahti (SEAMK), the strong presence of micro-enterprises represents not only a challenge but also an opportunity. It is driving the development of more flexible, accessible and adaptable solutions, including through open-source approaches and technological retrofitting. Innovation is therefore evolving toward more inclusive models that better reflect the real needs of end users.
Data also emerged as a key strength. Jürgen Vangeyte (ILVO) underlined Europe’s competitive advantage in data generation — noting that “Europe is great in creating data” — and the ongoing efforts to fully unlock its value. Data spaces are increasingly evolving into application-driven ecosystems capable of delivering concrete services. Central to this process is building user trust, which depends on simple, tangible and immediately useful use cases.
At the same time, the importance of skills was strongly highlighted. Paola Scarpellini (University of Pisa & AGRITECH EU) pointed out how digital transformation is already fostering new hybrid professional profiles and innovative training models, based on collaboration, hands-on experimentation and environments such as rural labs. This reflects an ecosystem that is not only developing technologies, but also investing in the people needed to make them work in practice.
A pragmatic and constructive perspective also emerged on the transition from innovation to market.
Raffaele Bini (EDIH DataLife) presented the role of the hub in supporting digital transformation across four strategic value chains: agri-food, seafood, forestry and wood, and healthcare and biotechnology. He highlighted the central role of data as a key enabler for the effective deployment of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.
DataLife operates as a non-profit association built on a strong cross-sector partnership, bringing together universities, companies and research centres. Acting as a one-stop shop, it provides SMEs and public administrations with integrated support services. Requests are collected and matched with the most suitable partners within the consortium, guiding organisations along a structured customer journey (from initial needs assessment to implementation) and ensuring that innovation pathways are both accessible and effective.
The workshop
The webinar concluded with an interactive workshop that shifted the focus from discussion to action.
The session explored real-world challenges, assessed the effectiveness of existing project offerings, and examined the key factors that enable (or hinder) adoption.
Building on this, stakeholders worked collaboratively to identify alignment opportunities and practical areas for cooperation across projects and initiatives. The workshop concluded with the formulation of concrete recommendations aimed at making the adoption of digital services faster, simpler and more impactful in practice.
Overall, the event portrayed a European ecosystem that is mature, dynamic and rapidly accelerating. The infrastructures, tools and competencies are already in place and operational. The shared challenge, clearly recognised by all stakeholders, is now to integrate these elements, simplify access to them, and multiply their use.
Rather than highlighting shortcomings, the discussion pointed to a crucial insight: the conditions for success are already there. The next step is to translate this collective strength into tangible impact, making innovation increasingly accessible, coordinated and aligned with the real needs of the European agri-food sector.
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