Lecture

Rosa Gallardo Cobos, Director of the International Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Agriculture at the University of Cordoba (Cordoba, Spain), discusses in this talk the challenges of digital transformation in promoting sustainable food systems, particularly for Mediterranean agriculture.

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Talk Summary

The agrifood sector has undergone an intense process of evolution, constantly adapting and innovating to complex and ever-changing scenarios. Today, in an era defined by rapid technological progress, digital tools, particularly artificial intelligence, hold enormous potential to drive more informed decision-making. From increased profitability and resource-use efficiency, to enhancing quality, market positioning, logistics and consumer assurance, digital transformation represents a critical step towards more sustainable food systems. However, this extends beyond technology; it is a process of multiple innovations across the whole sector, that also requires social, economic, cultural and institutional adjustments.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has enormous potential for agrifood systems as it is already present in a large part of the sector. However, significant adaptation and adjustments are still needed. To ensure the adoption of AI, technology must be aligned with the specific needs of the agrifood industry, addressing challenges such as training, trust, sector-specific requirements, economic constraints and scalability. AI, like all technologies, should be seen as a means to an end, not the end itself. The shared goal among stakeholders remains clear: to improve production capacity whilst upholding the highest standards of quality, elevating the profession and making it more appealing to young people, attracting them to an innovative technological agrifood sector with a very promising future.

As agriculture undergoes this digitalisation process, certain sectors face unique challenges and opportunities. In Mediterranean crops such as viticulture and olive growing, digital transformation is set to play a key role in enhancing productivity and sustainability. This region is particularly vulnerable to climate change, which requires innovative solutions to ensure the long-term viability of these crops.

Speaker

Rosa Gallardo Cobos holds a doctorate in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Cordoba (2002), where she is a Professor of the Department of Agricultural Economics. From 2016 to 2024 she served as Director of the School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering at the University of Cordoba (ETSIAM), becoming the first woman to hold this position. During her tenure, she has led an integrated strategy to promote digital transformation in the agrifood and forestry sector.

She is currently the Director of the newly established International Seat of Artificial Intelligence and Agriculture at the University of Cordoba.

In 2020, she received an Honourable Mention in the XI edition of the Excellence Awards for Innovation for Rural Women, presented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Recently she was recognised by the Intec Foundation as one of the top 10 women in the agrifood sector for 2024, an initiative aimed at highlighting female leadership in this strategic sector of the European economy.

This year she received the Women in Science and Technology Award.

Gallardo leads the research team “Agrifood Economics, Rural Development and Natural Resources” within the interuniversity doctorate programme “Agricultural, Food, Forestry Engineering, and Sustainable Rural Development” run by the University of Cordoba, the University of Seville, the Spanish National Research Council, and the Andalusian Institute of Research and Training in Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Organic Production (IFAPA).

Since September 2021 she has been the head of the Research Group of the Andalusian Research Programme SEJ 109: Agricultural Economics. She has also served as the representative of the agrifood research groups in the Patronage of Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA), since April 2021.

Since July 2019, she has been a member of the Advisory Board of IFAPA.

She also co-directs the Master’s programme in Strategies for Sustainable Rural Development.

Conference Details

• Date: Tuesday 13 May 2025, 09:30h CET
• Venue: Aula D at CIHEAM Zaragoza (Av. Montañana 1005, Zaragoza, Spain)
• Language: Spanish (English interpretation provided)
• Cycle: CIHEAM Zaragoza-Campus of Aula Dei Lecture Series