Ecosystem of Russian Agricultural Bank (RusAg, the Bank) “Svoye Fermerstvo” for the digitalization of small and medium-sized farms was included in the short-list of finalists of the Eye on Innovation Award competition in the category “Financial Services 2020”. Over the past four years, this is the first time a Russian company has entered the final of this prestigious international award.
A digital ecosystem for agricultural enterprises developed by RusAg was nominated to win the competition established by the well-known consulting company Gartner. Its task is to contribute to the IT transformation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the agricultural sector. The platform combines exactly those digital solutions and services that will allow small farms to automate the solution of everyday tasks without additional costs and focus on business growth.
Russian Agricultural Bank will fight for the right to call the ecosystem “Svoye Fermerstvo” the most innovative solution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with such companies as the international bank Deutsche Bank, the French insurance group Axa, the largest bank in the Middle East region from Bahrain – Bank ABC and the most digital bank of Poland – mbank.
“RusAg’s ecosystem makes modern digital solutions more accessible for small peasant farms, which most often do not have the means and resources for independent comprehensive digitalization. The problems that the platform solves were identified by the farmers themselves – including telemedicine, remote monitoring of crops and animals, lack of personnel, and much more. I am sure that the applied orientation of the platform will become an additional factor of success when choosing the winner of the competition”, - said Elena Baturova, Director of the Center for the Development of Financial Technologies at RusAg.
The main block of information services of the ecosystem is agricultural technology solutions that help the farmer to reduce costs and increase productivity. These are biotechnologies and robotics, Internet of things technologies, precision agriculture based on satellite images, as well as the latest agricultural management technologies for monitoring the state of crops, forecasting, planning and accounting of operations in agriculture. Also, the ecosystem of the Bank makes it easier for farmers to receive qualified veterinary care by providing it in a convenient online format.
Ecosystem services also help in promoting farmers’ goods and services. Thus, farmers using the platform can independently offer their goods to a wide range of suppliers, including finding customers in the HoReCa segment. In addition, in order to increase business profitability, the Bank’s ecosystem provides a service that allows farmers to unleash their tourism potential and become real experts in the agro-tourism industry. The platform also allows you to solve the personnel issue using an aggregator of resumes and vacancies in the agricultural sector.
The final of the competition will be held in Barcelona, Spain, online on November 26, 2020 at 4:00 pm Moscow time. Finalists from other regions of the world include MasterCard payment company with Connected Intelligence product, American bank Morgan Stanley with Impact Quotient product, Ant Group financial company, which is a subsidiary of the largest Chinese corporation Alibaba with Intelligent Claims Assistance System product and a subsidiary bank of the largest insurance company Ping An - Ping An Bank with Intelligent Risk Control Platform product.