While GRDC will negotiate, contract, and actively manage individual projects within the Grain Automate portfolio, there is an additional need to co-ordinate activities, information flows and linkages across all three programs. The national coordinator will work closely with the GRDC investment manager. They will have responsibilities that span all three programs of investment, but the focus of the national coordination role will be in the coordination, quality assurance, and monitoring of demonstration, training, extension, and communication activities delivered in each GRDC region in Program 1 (see Figure 2). The key responsibilities of the national coordinator are listed below.

(a) Pull together biannual program meetings with key RD&E partners and GRDC personnel involved in the delivery and management of the Grain Automate portfolio.

(b) Co-ordinate information flows, linkages, and value adding activities (e.g., opportunities to share sites, datasets, market research) between the investments in each program and across the three programs where appropriate.

(c) Support GRDC in establishing and convening meetings of an industry reference group that will be used to provide insights and intelligence back to GRDC and key personnel in programs 1, 2 and 3 on key gaps and opportunities related to machine autonomy and intelligent systems. This group will be set up following the contracting of the national coordinator by GRDC and the national coordinator.

(d) Work with key personnel in Program 1 to ensure the quality assurance and coordination of demonstration, training, extension, and communication programs delivered across each GRDC region.

(e) Monitor the effectiveness and impact of program 1 investments and opportunities for improvement.

(f) Raise the awareness of GRDC’s investment in program 1 across the grains value chain and the broader agricultural industry to identify opportunities to bring in new and valuable partners.

Expected resourcing requirements for the National Coordination Role

It’s expected the National Coordination role would require ~1FTE for a period of 3-5 years. Operating, travel and personnel expenses would be negotiated with GRDC at the start of the contract term. They would be adjusted thereafter in negotiation with the successful applicant based on the evolving coordination requirements of the Grain Automate portfolio and the balance of tasks and responsibilities between the relevant GRDC investment manager and the National Coordinator.

Timeframes and dependencies

GRDC anticipates contracting the National Coordination Role prior to the evaluation of Program 1, 2 and 3 opportunities. The coordinator would work alongside GRDC (and other relevant expertise where required) to evaluate applications received across Program 1, 2 and 3. They will also provide strategic advice on the establishment of the Grain Automate portfolio to ensure the right skills and capacity are established in each of three GRDC Regions (West, South, North), are nationally coordinated and quality controlled in the delivery of training, demonstration, extension and communication programs required to pave the way for autonomy.