CONTEXT

The agri-food system is undergoing pervasive changes in business models, facilitated by the use of digital technologies. Although today it is almost inevitable for any business to adopt some level of digital transformation to strengthen their competitiveness, this transition in the agri-food sector could be more complex, given its characteristics.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to analyse worldwide the perceptions of new digital technologies in the agri-food sector expressed within social media platforms, identifying the differences that may exist between them regarding its objectives and social acceptance.

METHODS

This paper examines the information regarding digital transformation process in the agri-food sector disseminated worldwide on Twitter. For that purpose, Twitter API is used to gather tweets and descriptive and content analyses, including a sentiment analysis, are performed using R and MAXQDA software.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

We found that the digitalization of the agri-food sector is broadly discussed within Twitter. Different actors participate in these information flows, being companies and digital solution providers the most active users and academics and governmental institutions the most visible. Artificial Intelligence was the most mentioned technology, that together with the Internet of Things, Big Data, Machine Learning, and Cloud Computing, was related to improving production efficiencies, crop yield, or cost reduction. In the case of Blockchain Technology, it was closer to food supply chain actors, such as distribution companies and marketers. However, all these technologies are connected to the concept of sustainability. The sentiment analysis showed a generally positive tone, indicating social acceptance regarding the starting phase of the adoption of these technologies. The study also identified differences among countries, pointing to a stronger level of engagement with these technologies in developed regions. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic was seen as a chance to boost the digital transformation in the sector all over the world.

SIGNIFICANCE

Our results demonstrate that data harvested from Twitter provide useful insight into perceptions of digital transformation and different digital technologies in the agri-food value chain across different countries. Information that could be useful for researchers, but also for agricultural firms and policymakers.

中文翻译：

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全球农产品数字化转型新趋势：基于推特的探索性研究

语境

在数字技术的使用下，农业食品系统正在经历商业模式的普遍变化。尽管今天任何企业都几乎不可避免地采用某种程度的数字化转型来增强其竞争力，但鉴于其特点，农业食品行业的这种转型可能会更加复杂。

客观的

该研究的目的是分析全球对农业食​​品部门在社交媒体平台上表达的新数字技术的看法，确定它们之间在其目标和社会接受度方面可能存在的差异。

方法

本文研究了在 Twitter 上在全球范围内传播的有关农业食品行业数字化转型过程的信息。为此，Twitter API 用于收集推文以及使用 R 和 MAXQDA 软件执行的描述性和内容分析，包括情绪分析。

结果和结论

我们发现，农业食品行业的数字化在 Twitter 中得到广泛讨论。不同的参与者参与到这些信息流中，公司和数字解决方案提供商是最活跃的用户，而学术界和政府机构则是最引人注目的。人工智能是被提及最多的技术，与物联网、大数据、机器学习和云计算一起，与提高生产效率、作物产量或降低成本有关。就区块链技术而言，它更接近食品供应链参与者，例如分销公司和营销商。然而，所有这些技术都与可持续性概念有关。情绪分析显示普遍积极的基调，表明社会对采用这些技术的开始阶段的接受程度。该研究还确定了国家之间的差异，指出发达地区对这些技术的参与程度更高。此外，COVID-19 大流行被视为推动全球该行业数字化转型的机会。

意义

我们的结果表明，从 Twitter 收集的数据为了解不同国家农业食品价值链中数字化转型和不同数字技术的看法提供了有用的见解。可能对研究人员有用的信息，也对农业公司和政策制定者有用。