Farm Management Information Systems Architectures and users expectations: towards a new ecosystem? (poster abstract)

Farm management information systems architectures are becoming more and more integrated and complex, spanning from field operation management to decision support systems, with the final purpose of creating an holistic architecture. At the same time, more efforts are being spent in developing services devoted to very specific farmers’ needs, related to particular crops or operations. Moreover, this tension is impacted by the model of technology adoption of farmers, which seems particularly slow towards new advancements such as Precision Agriculture technologies. We disentangle this complex situation studying farmers’ needs collected through interviews and focus groups and considering how famers approach and evaluate farm information management solutions for their adoption. We analyze a case study related to the development of a system prototype devoted to farms’ costs analysis and reporting. It emerges that a key element to evaluate the ease of use are system interfaces to end users, combined with mobile accessibility and a well-structured reporting section. Finally we discuss possible architectural solutions to target these needs and balance the tension between integration and specialization, with a focus on ecosystems oriented infrastructures.