January 12, 2026 — The Closing Session of the Data-Driven Agriculture Program, integrated into the Líder + Digital initiative, took place last Monday at the headquarters of the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), bringing together participants, partners, trainers and representatives of the agricultural sector.
Developed by NOVA IMS, in partnership with CAP, and co-financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), the program aimed to reinforce digital skills and the data-based decision-making capacity of agricultural managers and entrepreneurs, supporting the digital transformation of the agri-food sector.
In the closing session, Luís Mira, Secretary General of CAP, highlighted the growing importance of data for the competitiveness of the sector, stating that “data-based agriculture is not the future, it is the present”. This vision was reinforced by Miguel de Castro Neto, NOVA IMS Dean and NOVA Cidade Founder and Director, who highlighted the central role of information management in the challenges of today's society and the potential of the agricultural sector to assume a leadership position in the new digital economy.
Applied projects with real impact
Throughout the program, participants from cooperatives, companies and family businesses, with activities in areas such as fruits, vegetables, almonds, cork, milk and meat production, developed practical digital transformation projects, directly aligned with their organizational realities.
The projects presented responded to concrete challenges in the agri-food sector and included:
- Creation of decision-support dashboards integrating data such as costs, revenues, production volumes and soil moisture
- Acquisition, processing and analysis of satellite imagery for monitoring and planning
- Development of chatbots to support management and communication
- Automation of operational processes, including automatic sorting of customer emails and routing of orders to the warehouse
According to André Barriguinha, trainer and coordinator of the program, the great diversity of companies, types of exploration and projects represented one of the main challenges, requiring the definition of models and solutions adaptable to different contexts.
National prize and recognition
Although all the projects presented demonstrated high technical quality and practical relevance, the jury awarded the national prize to Pedro Gonçalves, from Quinta das Barcelas, recognizing the excellence, scope and scalability of the project developed.
The prize consists of a visit to Brussels, with the aim of promoting contact and connections with other companies and entities in the agricultural sector at European level, encouraging knowledge sharing and international collaboration.
A collaborative effort
The closing session was also a moment to assess the impact of the program, which resulted from the close collaboration between the trainees, the NOVA IMSe aCAP team of trainers, as well as the contribution of invited experts.
By combining strategic vision, technical training and practical application, the Data-Driven Agriculture Program reinforces the role of data and digital technologies as key factors for the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of the agricultural sector.