SPTel is supporting the development of next-generation urban farms in Singapore through its Internet of Things-as-a-Service (IoT-a-a-S) platform, beginning with the implementation of IoT-a-a-S with local agritech player AbyFarm.
“As urban farms become a vital component of Singapore’s ‘30 by 30’ vision, IoT technology will continue to prevail as a core enabler of smart farming in Singapore,” said Susan Loh, SPTel’s VP for marketing and business development.
The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment has outlined its goal for Singapore to produce 30% of its nutritional needs by 2030.
“Enabling smart urban farms such as Abyfarm to leverage IoT to reduce manpower requirements and improve crop yield will be critical to the long-term success of Singapore’s urban farming programme,” said Loh.
SPTel’s IoT-a-a-S platform is a one-stop solution that manages the end-to-end IoT deployment so that farmers can focus on their business of providing quality crops instead of having to worry about managing multiple vendors.
The platform is also built on an “as-a-service” model, making the solutions accessible without the need for farmers to make heavy upfront investments to build and maintain their own platforms.
Also, Loh said the platform addresses these challenges with its multi-protocol platform that provides an integrated platform for urban farms to monitor and manage various sensors and applications, regardless of their gateway deployment requirements.
The integrated platform allows urban farms to connect IoT sensors that can transmit data for key variables that affect plant health and growth, such as temperature, humidity, and nutrient levels.
The platform also enables urban farms to connect additional IoT sensors with ease as they expand, allowing the farmer to retain centralised control of all devices and applications on the platform.
In addition, through SPTel’s extensive network of secure hubs across the island, urban farms can leverage a ready IoT platform with island-wide reach for fast deployment across multiple sites.
“Through this deployment, we are able to become a sustainable self-regulating urban farm with IoT, automation and crop blockchain ledger that enables farm-to-table traceability for improved food safety and security,” said Phoebe Xie, director and co-Founder of AbyFarm.
