2Blades and GEMS Informatics to Host Deep Dive at 2025 World Food Prize
2Blades and GEMS Informatics will host a Deep Dive Session at the 2025 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, at the World Food Prize events in Des Moines, Iowa, October 21–23. Considered the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture,” the World Food Prize honors the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
The session, entitled “Reimagining Partnerships to Transform the Agri-food Innovation Chain,” will explore how innovative public-private partnerships can and must accelerate agricultural R&D to address challenges in agri-food production facing global food systems.
The event comes at a moment when dramatic shifts in global agriculture have exposed the limitations of traditional R&D frameworks. This session will highlight practical strategies and examples of how new forms of collaboration can revitalize investment, foster efficiencies, and strengthen the innovation chain from discovery to delivery.
The session will cover the following topics:
The changing realities of agri-food R&D
Lessons from successful public-private innovation partnerships
Efficiency drivers across crops, regions, and stages of the innovation chain
Pathways to equitable, sustainable, and resilient food systems
Speakers include leaders across global agriculture:
Diana Horvath, 2Blades
Phil Pardey, GEMS Informatics
Ian Puddephat, PepsiCo
Juan Lucas Restrepo, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Ty Vaughn, Bayer
The event will be moderated by Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
About the Deep Dive Format
A new feature in 2025, four Deep Dive Sessions were selected for immersive, one-hour discussions designed to move beyond the big picture and engage participants in specific solutions. This in-person event will be held on Wednesday, October 22 from 3:15 – 4:15pm at the Iowa Event Center in Des Moines.
This year’s Dialogue convenes under the theme SOILutions for Security, underscoring agriculture’s foundational role in global stability.
To learn more about the event, please visit: https://www.worldfoodprize.org