A Q&A on FLUX

We’ve been working on some new advances in the company on decentralizing our data and connecting our community. Journalists have been asking the same questions, so here is a quick Q&A about what’s going on with us.

1. What’s the history of flux? Where and how did you begin?

The idea started in Israel, a country that has defied the odds in terms of water reuse, farming the desert, and importing cutting-edge sensors in image processing and AI into greenhouse science. Our founder had started a leading news organization in the space and noticed that most of these fields were converging all back to the same big business that is now causing a lot of environmental stress and unrest (i.e., chemical companies) and we wanted to create a paradigm shift in the way data, tools and harvest can get back into the hands of the farmers, even if today’s and tomorrow’s farmers will be high tech ones.

In general there is very much good will on the side of scientists and environmental activists and impact businesses to enact change, but very little reporting and data collection going on about industrial pollutants, plastics in our seas, pesticides on our tomatoes. We all know that the problems persist and are getting worse but there is no accountability in the system for the big polluters to be held guilty for what they do. We want to reverse the tables so that everyday people have in their hands the tools to report problems, but also to solve them. So that if a young scientist in Africa for instance has heard a theory that cattle grazing can actually reverse deforestation, we want her to have tools in her hands that can prove it. So it’s no longer conjecture. So that you don’t need to write a PhD in forestry to have your voice heard and actions taken seriously. Our field system MICO can do that.

2. What specific problem does flux solve? How do you solve it?

Flux enables sharing of useful plant, water and livestock data without borders. Using the blockchain the unbanked can use this system as long as they have a phone they are able to interact with the Flux Protocol.

Having an Open Sensor Protocol addresses several problems including quality of produce through harvesting with a level of verification currently not available. Sharing this data enables trade and knowledge sharing which can have a tremendous impact in areas where sustenance farmers lives literally depend on a successful harvest.

We want to create a prosperous future for all. We provide low-cost cutting edge smart farming and forestry tools to improve yields, quality and flavors while absolutely cutting down environmental destruction.

We connect cutting edge data collection sensors in image processing, nano-sensing (chemical), third party and our own and connect this raw data to decentralized intelligence. Flux provides a platform for building solutions in a goal focused manner: to increase fish yields, while decreasing grey water pollution. Or to grow redder tomatoes using insights from 3000 research institutes. Anyone that submits know-how and experience becomes part of the solution and reaps rewards for that contribution.

3. What’s the future of smart sensors in agriculture? (3 predictions if possible)

1. Government entities will begin using sensor data with the blockchain as a way to verify suppliers are in compliance and find it much more effective than spot checking.
2. Produce suppliers will realize the benefits to their supply chain in combining sensor data with the Blockchain to capture food quality and narrow down recalls limiting losses.
3. Pest and disease detection accounts for billions in losses each year. This is an epidemic which can be address through sensor monitoring and image processing for early detection and limiting of losses. Just wheat alone in the US accounts for $5B of loss each year in the US.

Want a few more?

1. Sensors that feed data into decentralized data platforms — no more mega corps owning earth data exclusively
2. Solutions for the unbanked or base of the pyramid — most farming is done on this world on small family plots. The 3 billion underserved will be better served by local and decentralized solutions which cater to local and regional contexts, much like Nokia’s approach with handsets unique to developing world needs
3. Extremely cutting edge sensors from the military getting scaled down to be affordable and run through a smartphone, i.e., image processing — algorithmic-based

4. What are the top 3 technologies trends you’re seeing in smart sensor-related agriculture tech?

1. Image processing for disease and pest detection
2. Sensor integration from satellites down to sensing minutiae in the field. This requires a lot of algorithmic insight.
3. Applying machine learning to better understand the language of not only plants, but the entire ecosystem around them. There is an old saying that a farmer doesn’t farm for food, he farms to create better soil, with food as byproduct. We need more systems thinking in the business of ag, and that’s what MICO and the FLUX Platform can provide.

5. Why is the agriculture (spec. smart sensor-related) industry ripe for disruption?

• The data is not in flux, it’s siloed and is not communicating between siloes owned by a handful of multinationals.
• About 70% of the farmers of this world grow on family plots. There is virtually no data there on yields, productivity, growing medium etc.
• It is a market worth trillions.
• It is a social imperative — we have no choice if we want to feed a planet swelling to 10 billion in the next few decades. An even more compelling reason to disrupt this market is the opportunity to unlock a future of abundance for all and especially the billions underserved by current political and economic forces.