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Artificial intelligence could hold the key to the future success of forestry in regional Australia

Artificial intelligence (AI) presents both opportunities and challenges for industries in regional Australia, and forestry is no exception.

A new collaborative research initiative is being proposed to enable communities, universities and government to work together to ensure the benefits of AI are maximised, and the threats mitigated.

The proposed Smarter Regions Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) will work with commercial partners from various sectors including forestry, Agtech, mining, retail and IT. The AI-focused research projects it conducts will be determined and led by the industry partners themselves, in light of their own distinct issues and priorities.

FWPA and the University of the Sunshine Coast are working together on the development of a proposal outlining potential areas of focus for forestry, informed by discussions with growers and timber processors. Optimising knowledge and knowledge transfer across the entire industry supply chain has been identified by industry as a key area of priority, due to its potential for supporting better short, medium and long-term decision-making.

In particular, AI techniques were identified during discussions as having the potential to uncover nonlinear relationships between the many factors impacting wood quality such as genetics, site conditions, rotations, management activities and environmental inputs.

The proposal will therefore recommend the CRC gathers and uses such insights to develop predictive models. These models would help ensure the implementation of short and long-term management strategies that will allow regional Australia to grow the highest quality timber resource, at a rate that will satisfy future demand.

Other key recommendations will include measures to enhance processing capabilities, and optimise supply chain and logistics to match timber produced with the right attributes for market opportunities.

You can find out more about the Smarter Regions Cooperative Research Centre by clicking here.

Posted Date: April 27, 2021

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