This document summarizes the "BSB Smart Farming" project which aims to prepare conditions in the agricultural sector in the Black Sea Basin area for digital transformation. The project has 6 partners across 5 countries and runs from July 2020 to March 2022. It will investigate current levels of preparedness for smart farming, develop an online platform and network, foster digital transformation, and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The project supports modernizing agriculture through boosting entrepreneurship and addressing challenges around skills, rural development, and cross-border trade opportunities through digital technologies like smart farming and IoT.

1. Jointly preparing the conditions in the
agricultural and connected sectors in the BSB
area for the digital transformation
“BSB Smart Farming”
…Presentation of the project

2. Project Identification
Programme priority 1. Promote business and entrepreneurship within the Black Sea Basin
Programme priority specific objective 1.2 Increase cross-border trade opportunities and modernisation in the
agricultural and connected sectors
Project duration 20 months
Start date 14.07.2020
End date 13.03.2022

3. Partnership
Pieriki Anaptixiaki S.A.-O.L.A. (LB), Greece
Business Agency Association, Bulgaria
Fund “Investment Support Center”, Armenia
“Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati (UDJG), Romania
Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi State University, TeSaU, Georgia
Business Advisory Center, Moldova

4. Project main overall objective
The main objective of the project is to develop, validate and affirm sustainable conditions for
increasing the cross-border trade opportunities and the modernisation in the agricultural and
connected sectors in BSB area, favoring the digital transformation from traditional cultivation to
modern methods.
The project will implement and test a stable and replicable model for preparing the conditions in
the agricultural and connected sectors in BSB area for the digitalisation, for improving the
capacities of the farming communities, academia, public institutions, industry actors and
entrepreneurs for cross-border trade opportunities in order to meet and answer the common
territorial challenges related to the lagging behind in modernisation and competitiveness.

5. Project logical framework
WP1
• Investigation on the level of preparedness for Smart farming in BSB area
WP2
• Setting BSB Smart Farming platform
WP3
• Development of BSB Smart farming network
WP4
• Fostering the digital transformation in the agricultural and connected sectors in the BSB area
WP5
• Strengthening the BSB area cross-border smart farming entrepreneurial ecosystem

6. Project summary
BSB Smart Farming project supports sweeping away some of the main Black Sea Basin countries
handicaps related to the upcoming digital transformation, by boosting entrepreneurship with
well-planned and relevant activities to a number of challenges and opportunities arising from
the main territorial running processes in three dimensions.

7. 1st Dimension
Related to the support of changing the conditions for the modernization of the agriculture and
connected sectors in the area as smart digital farming is listed as the highest-ranking
technology opportunity in terms of its expected positive impact.

8. 2nd Dimension
Related to the challenges before the main driver of economy and local people’s welfare – the
SMEs in the area.
The project improves stably the conditions for supporting the SME’s in the involved areas
operating in the agriculture and connected sectors to stay in line with the leading industrial
tendencies and fertilizes the grounds for stemming new ventures in the most promising new
industrial trends and needs with a strong cross-border effect, thus answering the regional
disparities.
The project ensures a sustainable territory for further supporting the knowledge and ventures
exchanges between the countries at different levels of deployment of the innovative SMEs’
ecosystems.

9. 3rd Dimension
Answering the socio-economic challenges in the areas – the brain and skill drain and the brain
waste, the migration flows, the regional disparities related to urbanization and rural areas
depopulation.
The project takes into consideration these trends and confronts them, offering a model for
improving the opportunity high-skilled people to become interested in farming, or working with
farmers, supporting the retention of young people in their birthplaces, creating and nourishing
opportunities for start-ups as a much desired and needed alternative against the low-skilled
seasonal or farmers’ fields work.
The project also reacts to the depopulation and ageing processes and the unplanned migration
pressure unfolding opportunities for the usage of ICT skills and competencies even in the most
underdeveloped areas in the BSB area.

10. Project overall objectives
To improve the preparedness for the introduction of innovative ICT based technologies in
agriculture and connected sectors
To ensure stable pre-conditions and a common ICT tool for the preparation for digital
modernisation in the agricultural and connected sectors in the BSB area
To intensively increase cross-border trade opportunities and modernisation in the
agricultural and connected sectors

11. Short explanation on the specific objective the current event is dedicated to:
To investigate, enhance and improve the preparedness of the stakeholders in agriculture and
connected sectors in BSB area 6 partner countries for the introduction and implementation of
innovative ICT (Information and communications technology) based technologies for sectoral
development and accelerating the uptake of Smart Farming technologies (SFts)and Internet of
Things (IoTs) technologies.

12. Today’s event
Web-based event for public presentation of the investigation for the level of preparedness
for Smart Farming in BSB area

13. • The event aims at establishing a stable base for the further development of the ICT tool for
modernisation of the trade in agriculture and connected sectors in the BSB area.
• All partners will present the current situation in their countries thus raising awareness and
interest for cross border cooperation from agriculture and connected sectors.
• The WP Lead Partner and the rest partners will present to stakeholders the results,
conclusions and recommendations and discuss with them the concerns and suggestions.
• Enterprises of the agriculture sector are invited to discuss the results from the investigation
and to be acquainted with the situation regarding the digital transformation in the Black Sea
Basin area.