AG/SUM AGRITECH SUMMIT

AG/SUM Symposium

Find out what's happening
at the forefront of agritech

Thanks to heavy investment in emerging agritech and foodtech innovations such as drones, robotics, AI, Iot, bigdata, farm management platforms, food traceability tools, and alternative proteins, the agricultural and food industry’s digital transformation is accelerating, spawning new business models and entrepreneurial opportunities.

The symposium consists of a series of 14 panel discussions covering a multitude of topics related to agriculture. The panelists are thought leaders and innovators from a wide range of sectors across the globe, such as agriculture, politics, finance, and education. Their insight and information could potentially shape the future of modern agriculture. Join us to discover the latest technologies and to hear thought leaders and innovators discuss why the agriculture and food industry is the next sector ripe for disruption.

Schedule

(Topics, speakers, and times are subject to change.)

DAY 1 May 23 (Tue.)

17:00-18:00

The Role of Agritech in Regional Revitalization

Satoshi Koike(Representative Director & President, vegetalia)Moderator
Masao Uchibori(Governor of Fukushima Prefecture)
Yoshikazu Goto(Chair, Mikkabi Agricultural Cooperative)
Shunji Sugaya(President, OPTiM Corporation)

DAY 2 May 24 (Wed.)

10:00-10:20

Fireside Chat

Shinjiro Koizumi(Member of the House of Representatives, Director of Agriculture and Forestry Division)
Yasuhiro Sato(Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. Director & Exectuive Office President, Group CEO)

10:30-11:30

Farming’s Next Generation: Innovative Farming Practices

Shinjiro Koizumi(Member of the House of Representatives, Director of Agriculture and Forestry Division)Moderator
Aizu Hiroki(Chairman, National Liaison Council of Rural Youth Clubs)
Yuriko Kato(Representative Director & President, M2 Labo. Inc.)
Atsushi Shinjo(Associate Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University)
Yasufumi Miwa(Senior Specialist, Center for the Strategy of Emergence, The Japan Research Institute, Limited)

11:30-12:30

Why Agritech? What's driven the jump in Agritech investment in recent years and will this trend continue?

Paul Noglows(Forbes)Moderator
Nitza Kardish(VP, The Trendlines Group)
Douglas C. Cameron(Managing Director, First Green Partners
Sanjeev Krishnan(Managing Director, S2G Ventures)
Rob Leclerc(CEO, Co-Founder, AGFunder)

13:10-14:10

Fintech & Agritech: A combination for growth -Why financial innovation is a necessary part of a healthy agricultural industry?

Kenji Kushida(Research Scholar, Stanford University)Moderator
Ken Saito(State Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)
Rajiv Singh Tevtiya(Reuters Market Light)
Kazuhiro Nakatsuka(Director, Managing Executive Officer, SBI Holdings, Inc.)
Takeshi Matsumoto(Representative Director, Farm Alliance)

14:10-14:55

Regenerating agriculture through cooperation and joint development

Koichi Noguchi(PwC Consulting LLC. Partner)Moderator
Hidemitsu Sasaya(Managing Executive Officer & Manager of CSR Promotion Office, Ito En, Ltd.)
Kohey Takashima(Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Oisix Inc.)
Nobuo Hariu(Representative Director, Butai Farm)

15:15-16:00

The dawn of smart data solutions: How the combination of big data and analytics will transform agriculture

Cal Foulner (Founder, beanstalk)Moderator
Matthew Coleman(VP Business Development, PrecisionHawk)
Yasir S. Khokhar(CEO, Connecterra)
Andrew Ziolkowski(Managing Director, Cultivian Sandbox Food, AgFund)
Alex Heilman(Director of Sales, Mercaris)

16:00-17:00

Operation Automation: How agricultural robots, AI and IoT will drive the future of farming

George Kellerman(COO, General Partner, Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley)Moderator
Hiroyasu Kitagawa(Senior Manager, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co.,Ltd.)
Cédric Giorgi(Director of Special Projects, Sigfox)
Noboru Noguchi(Professor, Hokkaido University Research Faculty of Agriculture)
Dan Harburg(Business Development Director, Soft Robotics Inc)
Norio Yamaguchi(Division Director, Cyber-Physical System Business Division, PS Solutions Corp.)

17:00-17:45

Is Agritech a threat to employment opportunities? New working habits and lifestyles in rural areas and their appeal

Michiaki Matsushima(NHK Publishing, Inc.)Moderator
Chiaki Hayashi(Representative Director, Loftwork Inc.)
Masayuki Hirafuji (Specially Appointed Professor, The University of Tokyo)
Nozomu Miyajima(Kyodo-Gakusha Shintoku Farm)

17:45-18:30

How Agritech will Impact the Role of Agricultural Supporters

Kazunuki Ohizumi(Emeritus Professor, Miyagi University)Moderator
Hajime Kobayashi(Chairman, Ogatamura Agricultural Cooperative)
Yuuji Sato(Chairman, Higashisouya Agricultural Cooperative)
Reinhard Wolf(CEO, RWA)

DAY 3 May 25 (Thu.)

9:30-10:30

The Food Tech Revolution

Dario Galbiati Alborghetti(Managing Director, Atlantic Food Labs)Moderator
Andrew D. Ive(Managing Director, SOSV / Food-X)
Manuel E. Gonzalez Guzman(Head of F&A Start-up Innovation, Rabobank)
Yuki Hanyu(CEO, Integriculture Inc.)
Sara Bonham(CEO, Willow Cup Inc.)

10:30-11:15

Future of Food: Are we at a turning point? Does alternative food offer us a chance to reimagine how to deliver better food with an equivalent eating experience?

Christopher Flynn-Rozanski(CEO, Plasma Nutrition)Moderator
Mitsuru Izumo(Representative Director & President, euglena Co., Ltd)
Alvyn Severien(General Manager & Co-founder, ALGAMA)
Dr Nora Khaldi(Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Nuritas Founder)
Ash Roy(Maisen Fine Food Co., Ltd.)

11:15-12:00

Food Safety: How technology within the value chain is changing how we monitor and prevent food contamination, keeping our food supply safe

Seana Day(Partner, The Mixing Bowl, Better Food Ventures)Moderator
Jeremy Warren(CEO, Astrona Biotechnologies)
Mark Barnekow(CEO, BluWrap)
Jon Friedman(President and Co-Founder, Freight Farms)

12:40-13:00

Keynote

François-Philippe Champagne (Canadian Minister of International Trade)
Waichi Sekiguchi (Nikkei Inc.)

13:00-13:45

A global perspective on agribusiness

Kenji Kushida(Research Scholar, Stanford University)Moderator
Evert Jan Krajenbrink(Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Karra-Lee Gerrits(Embassy of Canada)
Sabine Hofferer(Embassy of France)
Hideya Yamada(Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)

13:45-14:30

Expanding Agriculture's reach: New partnerships and business models for growth -Where to? How to expand? How fast? What kind of change?

Sarah Nolet(Founder/CEO, Agthentic)Moderator
Eric Ellestad(Local Roots Farms)
Jung Kyu Kim(Director, ACA Investments)
Willem Sodderland(Seamore Food)
Karn Manhas(Terramerra)

17:25-18:15

Agri-next? Where can agritech innovation lead us in the future and what do we need to do now to get there?

Naoto Nakahara(Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan)Moderator
Shogo Aoki(President, Japan Junior Chamber, Inc.)
Yoshihiko Iino(President, JA Youth)
Blake Burris(CEO, flux IoT)
Hiroyuki Baba(Comedian, Robert)

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