Delivering knowledge and solutions at your fingertips:strategy for mobile app development in agriculture

Abstract

The mobile revolution transformed our lives in the ways we socialize and conduct business.  Today, mobile technology is an essential element of every aspect of digital success. More people are accessing the Internet through mobile devices than through wired connections.  Mobile device users are always connected, actively leveraging information, knowledge and social activities.  The rapid growth of mobile usage in the world created many opportunities that leverage the ubiquity of mobile networks.  Clearly mobile revolution will continue, and organizations not only create mobile strategy, they devote more resources to deliver innovative mobile services and next must-have applications (apps) for the agricultural sector.  There are many design challenges and considerations in developing mobile apps that can be widely accepted by users in agricultural communities.  This paper discusses mobile apps in the agricultural domain, considerations and challenges for successful mobile app development and focuses on a cross-platform mobile development approach adopted by University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).  This cross-platform framework is an intuitive approach to developing apps quickly, easily and cost effectively.  A mobile portal and sample mobile apps developed at UF/IFAS are presented.  Effective and quality mobile app deployment in agriculture needs a clear mobile strategy, creative ideas and collective efforts from developers, domain experts and organizations.