‘At the Smart City Food Industry Collaboration Forum’ held at Coex in Gangnam Seoul on October7, 2026 (above) , Deputy President of Newton University in the Czech Republic, below left) , Gillian Kerubo, secretary of the Embassy of Republic of Kenya in Korea and Perez Ochieng (below right) CEO of Sacoma and the convener f the forum are discussing / photo=Reporter Lee Nam-Joo

 

Hosted and organized by SACOMA Global Foods Innovation as part of the Seoul Smart Life Week program, this event was attended by domestic and international experts who explored solutions for establishing a 'people-centered low-carbon food supply chain.'   

 I emphasized that "those who cannot enter the data system may be excluded," and stressed that in a high-tech-based society, farmers and small-scale producers must not be marginalized but participate as active agents in the data system supported by data-driven AgriTech


As the organizer and convener of Smart City  Food Forum, SACOMA, along with the city, businesses, universities, and producers, plan to continue discussions on cooperation regarding the establishment of low-carbon food supply chains and the addressing of health and environmental impacts.

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I pointed out that food supply chains have become vulnerable due to global warming and urbanization, AI and data technologies must be redefined as key means to protect urban health, the environment, and the livelihoods of farmers, rather than merely as tools for pursuing efficiency.

 

Dagmar, Vice Rector of Newton University in the Czech Republic, also emphasized that the Human Central Smart City must be based on a 'partnership strategy' grounded in a clear division of roles, rather than simply the introduction of technology.

Vice Chancellor Dagmar proposed a structure in which universities are responsible for research, talent, and evidence; companies for solutions, commercialization, and market access; cities for policies, regulations, and the environment for actual application; and citizens for service experience and trust.

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In particular, it was argued that four specific questions must be asked from the early stages of the business: “Who benefits (users and producers), what value is created (jobs, health, and sustainability), what evidence data is utilized, and how will the scale be expanded?”

In addition, it was explained that for a partnership to succeed, five building blocks must be satisfied: a shared sense of problem, mutually complementary roles, collaborative learning, verifiable trust and relationships, and a scale-up path designed from the early stages, and that AI must function as an 'assistant' that collects and interprets signals from cities, businesses, and citizens to aid in fair decision-making.

 

 

When this model is successful in a food system involving all stakeholders, other urban problems can also be solved. The specific case from Kenya provided clues as to how technology and data can be applied in the field.

Kenya digitizes agricultural production and export processes using IoT and AI
. “Who benefits, not the technology itself”… Emphasizing cooperation among universities, businesses, and cities.

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Gillian Kerubo, Secretary at the Embassy of the Republic of Kenya in Korea, stated that Kenya is pursuing a national AI strategy and a digital agriculture information bill to overcome the limitation of losing up to 30% of its harvest due to a lack of cold chain.

The explanation is that it is bridging the digital divide by providing cultivation and export information via SMS to small-scale farmers without smartphones, in addition to crop management based on satellite imagery and IoT sensors that control the greenhouse environment.

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Furthermore, it is closely connecting production sites and global markets through data, such as by meeting the EU's stringent environmental regulations via blockchain and QR codes.