In conjunction with the Australian government and QUT, Lendlease has helped to launch the Food Agility CRC, a project that aims to make Yarrabilba in South East Queensland Australia’s first "sustainable food city".

Food Agility CRC is a $150million innovation hub designed to harness the power of digital technology to help the Australian agrifood industry be more globally competitive and sustainable.

Food Agility chief executive Dr Mike Briers says Yarrabilba will become a model for digitally integrated, sustainable urban agriculture and what he calls the "circular food economy".

“The world is grappling with a major food challenge: how to make enough healthy food to feed a growing population, with less available land while minimising waste and environmental impact," he says.

“Yarrabilba will be a test ground for how we can embed cutting-edge digital technologies into the design of our cities to create local food systems fuelled by food waste.”

Stage two of the three-year project involves establishing small-scale food production enterprises where goods and services can be exchanged via smartphone and other digital comunication technologies.

Speaking to IT Wire, Yarrabilba Development director Michelle Wooldridge says that “This will be the first circular economy community that integrates social, economic and environmental values to provide a dynamic and empowered community that fosters sharing, access, connection, diversity and control.

“We’re looking at environmental sustainability and community health in a whole new way and building in the necessary infrastructure from the beginning,” he says.

“Digital is the next frontier for the agrifood industry as it strives to meet the growing global demand for safe, sustainable and healthy food. Food Agility promotes data sharing across the agrifood system to accelerate development of scaleable digital services,” says Briers, adding that "The opportunity for system-wide value creation is massive.”