Professors Ram Ramanathan and Yanqing Duan delivered keynote speeches during a workshop titled 'Data innovations and sustainability in agri-food supply chains: Evidence from Henan Province, China' in Kaifeng, China, on 19-20 April 2017.

Professor Ramakrishnan Ramanathan delivered a keynote address on the topic 'Impact of Big Data innovation in logistics and supply chains'. The talk introduced latest developments in the fields of Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT), and some real-life examples reported in the literature on how Big Data and IoT is helping the agricultural sector all over the world to improve banking provision, reduce inefficiencies, and reach new markets. The talk then focussed on a UK case study on how big data is being used efficiently by logistics companies in the UK.

Professor Yanqing Duan delivered a keynote address on the topic 'Big Data and Analytics for Agri-Business Innovation'. Her talk provided an overview on the current development and use of Big Data and Analytics in agriculture and food sector. Examples of cutting edge applications were used to illustrate how agri-business sector can harness Big Data technologies and business analytics effectively for improving productivity and performance through innovation. Opportunities and challenges for utilising Big Data and Analytics in Agri-business sector were discussed.

The workshop was funded by Agri-Tech in China: Newton Network+ (ACTNN) Pathfinder Awards involving the University of Kent, University of Bedfordshire and Henan University, China. It was well attended by delegates from both, academia and industry.

On 20th April the workshop delegates spent time in the nearby county that is the largest garlic production base in China. They visited garlic fields, the Jinqi Garlic logistics park (the largest garlic warehouses and market site in China) and the Jinqi company office. The Jinqi company officials presented salient features of their business to the workshop participants.

A number of very useful conclusions emerged from the workshop and the farm visit. Notable areas for further collaboration were identified, including supporting the garlic farm to explore export opportunities, develop value-added garlic based products, have good visibility to its export markets, supporting e-commerce with online platforms, supply chain financing, the use of IT technologies for improving crop yield/logistics, and assessing agricultural productivity of the farm. The garlic farm offered to collaborate with the project team on further joint research opportunities.