“Internet of Things” Guest Lecture

MM Ubaya, through the Leadership Club (LC), once again invited a practitioner and academic from Vietnam: Mr. Nguyen Hong Quan. The guest lecture themed “Internet of Things (IoT) and Data Analytics Platform for Agriculture” was held on Saturday, November 19, 2022, moderated by Adi Prasetyo Tedjakusuma B.Bus., M.Com., SCM., as the Director of Ubaya Institutional Cooperation. Mr. Nguyen Hong Quan explained AgriConnect Digital Agriculture Co., Ltd, which was established on July 21, 2016, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The main activity of AgriConnect is product research and development for the Internet of Things, such as wireless sensors and automatic control. To help the development of agriculture, AgriConnect provides its product based on two solutions: Solution 1 is related to the cloud, and Solution 2 is related to local (IoT Gateway) where both of these solutions involve Sensor Nodes assisted by Wi-Fi to control their equipment.

The decision algorithm (data) includes three things: data collection; analytics and prediction; and the digitized cultivation process. Mr. Nguyen explained four benefits of implementing IoT in existing agribusiness: collecting data from vegetable farming, synthesizing, analyzing, and digitizing processes for hydroponic and aquaponic vegetables; calculating and building efficient systems and models for hydroponic and aquaponic vegetable farming on production and commercial scales; digital datasets are available for hydroponic and aquaponic vegetable farming; and finally, there is a data set on four parameters of temperature, humidity, light, and CO2, establishing the digitization process for three varieties of mushrooms: oyster, lingzhi, and straw mushroom.

Mr. Nguyen added the unique benefits provided by AgriConnect, namely how technology provides solutions for growing lettuce in hot areas (not the main area). The lecture ended with an explanation related to the biggest challenge for AgriConnect, which is how to explain the importance of IoT to farmers in Vietnam because, besides being expensive, farmers in Vietnam have more confidence in using conventional methods that they already know. From this event, the MM Ubaya academic community can learn how IoT is utilized in agribusiness to increase agricultural productivity.