A new scientific partnership will develop an AI platform to meet demand from Bay of Plenty scientists for faster processing of complex research data.

The initiative, a marriage between the needs of PlantTech Research Institute in Tauranga and the expertise of New Zealand eScience Infrastructure, is accelerating innovative research, starting in the agritech sector.

The platform will remove computer processing bottlenecks that limit the ability for data scientists to train artificial intelligence models that learn from high volumes of complex and tightly coupled data.

It will also dramatically reduce the turnaround times for current AI research.

Horticulture and produce are among the first New Zealand industries to benefit from this faster AI computing infrastructure, with PlantTech scientists using it to explore new approaches to data-driven horticulture in key sectors, including kiwifruit.

NeSI director Nick Jones says the partnership with PlantTech provides NeSI with an opportunity to extend its national platform to be fit-for-purpose for data-intensive agritech workloads.

'This is a special collaboration, enhancing the capabilities and support we offer to New Zealand's agricultural research communities, particularly those working in emerging technologies, such as AI and deep learning.

'It also gives us the opportunity to extend our reach, beyond the public research sector, to positively impact research in the horticulture industry, which is discovering that its pressing challenges can be solved by more precise technologies.”

PlantTech chief executive Mark Begbie says having access to the latest generation of systems brings capabilities that will enable new approaches to highly complex data challenges.

'That will deliver step-change benefits across productivity, profitability, sustainability, provenance, and biosecurity.”

'PlantTech's team works collaboratively to deliver data-driven solutions that build commercial success and competitive advantage for our regional primary industry companies. In 2021, this is more important than ever, particularly as the Government focuses on New Zealand's economic recovery post-COVID-19 and executes the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan to build stronger and more productive horticulture and agriculture sectors.”

In its first year, the research institute has trialled innovative solutions to various challenges affecting the kiwifruit industry, including crop estimation and fruit maturity testing.

Research director Ian Yule says NeSI's new world-class computing resource would turbocharge PlantTech's translational research capability.

'We can achieve a lot with the computing systems currently available to us, as shown by the value we have rapidly delivered to partners already.

'However, there are challenges that we simply cannot address without the step up to a true supercomputing architecture.

'Through NeSI, we will be able to access the scale of processing and memory that we need to deliver the next generation of AI solutions, beyond the current state of the art. Through this strategic partnership, we will ensure New Zealand has the tools in the future to sustain the momentum.”

Dr Georgina Rae, NeSI's science engagement manager, expects the new platform will act as a catalyst for boundary-breaking science in New Zealand.

'Other countries have been exploring these capabilities for years, but having an indigenous, accessible platform in New Zealand will support the momentum we're seeing build around technology and solutions that support data-driven decision-making on orchards and farms.”