IBM says these 5 Innovations will change our Lives in the next 5 Years

It is predicted that our Earth’s population will be reaching 8 Billion within the next 5 years.  Feeding 8 Billion People with our current food chain is not possible.

We have to improve each stage of our Complex Food chain which is already stressed by climate change and lack of water supply. Scientists throughout the world are working hard to make use of new technology innovations to meet the huge food demand. Apart from using new technologies properly, we need to think about food safety and security from an entirely different perspective.

IBM researchers have come up with the list of 5 innovations that are going to change our lives in 5 years as “5 in 5”. They will talk about “5 in 5” at Think 2019 in San Francisco on February 13.

These are the 5 Innovations that are going to change Food Supply Chain in 5 Years.

1. Farming’s digital doubles will help feed a growing population using less resources

How do you give a farmer who has never set foot in a bank access to credit? By digitizing and capturing all aspects of agriculture, from the quality of the soil to the skills of the tractor driver to the price of melon sold at the market. It’s known as a Digital Twin, and within the next five years, using AI we can use this data to accurately forecast crop yields, which in turn will give banks and financial institutions the data points they need to provide credit to help farmers expand — maybe money does grow on trees after all.

2. Blockchain will prevent more food from going to waste

Within five years, we’ll eliminate many of the costly unknowns in the food supply chain. From farmers to grocery suppliers, each participant in the supply chain will know exactly how much to plant, order, and ship. Food loss will diminish greatly and the produce that ends up in consumers’ carts will be fresher—when blockchain technology, IoT devices, and AI algorithms join forces.

3. Mapping the microbiome will protect us from bad bacteria

Within five years, food safety inspectors around the world will gain a new superpower: the ability to use millions of microbes to protect what we eat. These microbes—some healthy for human consumption, others not—are regularly introduced into foods at farms, factories, and grocery stores. Thanks to a new technique that enables us to analyze their genetic make-up cost effectively, microbes will tell us a lot about the safety of what we consume.

4. AI sensors will detect foodborne pathogens at home

Within five years, the world’s farmers, food processors, and grocers—along with its billions of home cooks—will be able to detect dangerous contaminants effortlessly in their food. All they’ll need is a cell phone or a countertop with AI sensors. IBM researchers are creating powerful, portable AI sensors that can detect foodborne pathogens anywhere and everywhere they might turn up. These mobile bacteria sensors could dramatically increase the speed of a pathogen test from days to seconds, allowing individuals up and down the food chain to detect the existence of harmful E. coli or Salmonella before it becomes an outbreak.

5. A radical new recycling process will breathe new life into old plastic

In five years, the disposal of trash and the creation of new plastics will be completely transformed. Everything from milk cartons to cookie containers to grocery bags and cheese cloths will be recyclable, and polyester manufacturing companies will be able to take in refuse and turn it into something useful. This transition will be powered by innovations like VolCat, a catalytic chemical process that digests certain plastics (called polyesters) into a substance that can be fed directly back into plastic manufacturing machines in order to make new products.

News Source: IBM