Recommendations Tool v2.0

The Recommendation Tool is an interactive tool that allows farmers and advisors to gain insights on the available DATSs and request a recommendation of suitable DATSs, given:

• (1) A natural language search text,
• (2) DATS parameter filter values,
• (3) Farm and farmer profile characteristics values,
• (4) A selected recommendation algorithm.

DATS parameter filters supported

The DATSs can be filtered by selecting desired parameter values on the left side of the tool. The possible parameters to filter the DATSs include:

• Agricultural Sector) the sector the DATS is targeting
• Functionality) the relevant functionality of the DATS
• Benefits) the benefits that can be reached by using the DATS
• Digital Form) the digital form of the DATS
• Language and Country) the supported language and targeted country of the DATS
• Cost Structure) the cost structure of the DATS

Farm and farmer profile characteristics values supported

The DATSs can be recommended based on a profile of some farm and farmer characteristics values that can be selected on the top side of the tool. The supported farm characteristics include:

• Farm Type) the kind of farm (e.g., arable, dairy and fruit)
• Country) the country where the farm is located
• Language) the preferred language of the farmer
• Technologies) the type of technologies the farmer can work with
• Functionality) the functionality the farmer is looking for in a DATS
• Benefits) the type of benefits the farmer wants to achieve with a DATS

Recommendation algorithms supported

The DATSs can be recommended using one of three different recommendation algorithms that can be selected from the Advanced Setting menu. The supported algorithms are:

• Basic algorithm) this algorithm only recommends DATS that have exact matches with the selected DATS parameter values and farm/farmer characteristics.
• Meta-path algorithm) this algorithm recommends DATS also based on nearly exact matches of parameters and characteristics and prioritizes DATS according to the number of matching parameters and characteristics.
• Natural language processing algorithm) this algorithm uses natural language encoding techniques to encode the available and requested DATS characteristics values and calculate a similarity score to find matching DATSs to be recommended.

Requesting a Recommendation

Once a search text has been entered, DATSs parameters filters are selected, farm characteristics values have been selected and/or a recommendation algorithm has been chosen, a recommendation for applicable DATSs can be requested by pushing the “Recommend DATSs” button. A columned list of recommended DATSs will be shown with a few parameters. When clicking on a DATS, more detailed information will be shown and if available also testcase in which the DATS has been tested.