The mission is: To provide the research methods, technologies and tools that can be used to solve complex societal problems through the integration of novel data acquisition tools, quantitative and qualitative modelling with domain knowledge.

The theme, focusses on further advancing the state of the art in data science and engineering methodologies for agro-environmental applications, in areas such as machine learning, machine vision and artificial intelligence, digital twins, autonomous robotics, big data and high resolution remote sensing.

The central disciplines and research areas are: Geo-information science, (remote) sensing, statistics, mathematics, simulation modelling, spatial analysis, software development, systems & control, and robotics. 

The theme develops, implements and supports quantitative methodologies for the life and environmental sciences. Activities involve data acquisition and handling, experimentation based on a statistical design, modelling, and technological development and application. The theme plays a major role in data challenges encompassing the integration of multiple data sources by different types of models, the writing of professional software, and the development and implementation of decision-making technology to improve the quality of life. 

The ambition for the future is to have an excellent reputation and to be the internationally renowned focal point in (big) data science for agro-environmental applications. The main strength is that we understand the application domains and translate these into practice.