• Name: Aquaculture 4.0 - Advancing Digital Precision Aquaculture in China (ADPAC)
• Funder: Innovate UK and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
• Value: Total funding of £1million, with the University of Bedfordshire receiving £223,000
• Who is involved: 4 partners in the UK (University of Bedfordshire, Chelsea Technology Group, Perceptive Engineering Limited and University of Surrey) and 5 partners in China. 
• Project length: 3 years (2019-2022)

The project aims to advance digital precision aquaculture in China towards “Aquaculture 4.0”, which is a highly connected and automated cyber-physical system using digital technologies.

Aquaculture production in China reached 45.5m ton in 2014 (60%+ of world’s production, UN FAO). The grand challenge is the extremely low production efficiency, leading to high labour intensity, high energy/water consumption and environment pollution.

Innovation is urgently needed for a transformation to digital industrialised aquaculture. The proposal is a timely response to the needs; it will apply and integrate the latest technologies of advanced sensors, 5G-based Internet of Things, Big Data analytics and automation to pilot highly digital precision aquaculture in China.

The system is expected to deliver 10-fold increase in production efficiency. The project will open new business opportunities, gaining a competitive advantage by entering the Chinese market at this critical time and by partnering with the key innovators in Chinese aquaculture represented in this consortium. The solution will be also applicable to aquaculture worldwide opening up additional revenue stream.