“Liberty & Security” were the two buzzwords discussed extensively by the speakers and participants at the recent Technology Symposium in Alpbach in Austria (22-24 August).

If you think about it, liberty & security don’t often fit well together – consider a prisoner who has the highest level of security in his cell, but his liberty is quite limited!

Internet created unexpected liberties

By connecting everything, the internet has created unexpected liberties, promising universal information and education for all but has also shown its dark side with cybercrime, mobbing or the targeted manipulation of information.

I have attended this conference for the last 15 years, and as Pessl Instruments has been involved in the Internet of Things since 2004, I was very curious about what the future could bring.

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Future of data protection

There were many theoretical discussions on the future of data protection and how this will impact the individual and society, however the bottom line is, if data is shared in a responsible way it will benefit many stakeholders.

One session was particularly interesting, it discussed the topic ‘Bio-Economy – Essential for the Future and Security of Mankind’, where the panel explored the future changes expected for all of us.

Bioeconomy to change our way of life

I firmly believe that Bioeconomy will change our way of life as significantly as the car did. I am in the lucky position to have two adult daughters who are practicing Bioeconomy already and one 6 year old who will suffer very much if we do not change our ECO footprint soon.

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What are the key factors of Bioeconomy? It consists of the following three columns:

1. Technical innovations
2. Social Innovations
3. Organisational & Political innovations

It is all about climate change and what every individual can do to mitigate it. If we look at the recent discussions about the wildfires in the Brazilian Amazon and the heat waves we had in Europe this year, we get an idea of what this means.

Our politicians are still hesitating, but the younger generation understands that we need to change our ecological footprint drastically.

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Natural fertiliser

Many times mankind has been at the edge of the cliff. In the 1920’s predictions were made that the world would run out of natural fertiliser within 15 years and millions of people would die due to massive food shortages, however with post war developments to the Haber–Bosch process, artificial ammonia fertilisers became freely available, significantly increasing yields of food and feed grain crops. Mankind is always very innovative when it comes to new solutions for drastic problems.

Technology that lasts

Slowly various governments are acting to implement Bioeconomy into their politics – more 49 countries have done already (download the pdf below and read the presentation by Prof. J. von Braun to understand what this means).

At Pessl Instruments we‘re trying to do our share, by manufacturing technology that lasts and helps farmers to use resources responsibly, in order to produce food in a sustainable way.