Resumo Objetivo: Diversos estudos técnicos e acadêmicos exploraram as aplicações das tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TIC) no setor agroalimentar do ponto de vista dos agricultores. No entanto, a perspectiva do fornecedor de tecnologia na aplicação de TIC foi amplamente esquecida. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar como as tecnologias digitais estão sendo utilizadas na cadeia de valor agroalimentar e quais são seus benefícios e vantagens na perspectiva dos fornecedores de tecnologia. Originalidade/valor: Em primeiro lugar, o estudo analisou os benefícios das TIC para o setor agroalimentar na perspectiva dos fornecedores de tecnologia, permitindo a análise integrada do conjunto completo de TIC aplicadas em toda a cadeia de valor agroalimentar. Finalmente, usando uma abordagem metodológica robusta, garantimos a replicabilidade do estudo. Design/metodologia/abordagem: Foi empregado um estudo exploratório com abordagem descritiva para mapear o conjunto completo das tecnologias digitais comercializadas por 131 empresas de tecnologia agroalimentar. Usou-se a tipologia da Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico (OCDE) (2018) para classificar os tipos de tecnologias. Por meio do software NVIVO, a análise de cluster foi aplicada aos dados de benefícios e vantagens das soluções digitais comercializadas pelas empresas. Resultados: Identificaram-se a redução de custos e a rápida tomada de decisão como os benefícios mais importantes das TIC. No setor agroalimentar, essas tecnologias são criadas por diferentes gerações de empresas, sendo a maioria delas startups. Identificaram-se os fenômenos de servitização agrícola, compreendendo a crescente importância dos serviços como insumo-chave para a produção agrícola, e de manufaturização agrícola, que trata do incremento do controle sobre os fatores de produção na agricultura.

ABSTRACT Purpose: Many academic and technical studies have explored information and communications technology (ICT) applications in the agri-food sector from the farmers’ perspective. However, the technology supplier perspective on the ICT application has been largely overlooked. This paper aims to analyze how digital technologies are used within the agri-food value chain and their benefits and advantages from the technology supplier perspective. Originality/value: First, the study analyzed the benefits of ICT for the agri-food sector from the technology supplier perspective. Second, it comprised the integrated analysis of the complete set of ICT applied to the entire agri-food value chain. Third, we guaranteed the study’s replicability by using a straightforward methodological approach. Design/methodology/approach: Exploratory study with a descriptive approach was employed to map the complete set of digital technologies commercialized by 131 agri-food technology companies. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) (2018) typology for ICT solutions was used to identify technology types. The NVIVO software cluster analysis was applied to the data related to the benefits and advantages of the firms’ ICT solutions. Findings: We identified that cost reduction and rapid decision-making are the essential benefits of ICT. It was found that the ICT field in the agri-food sector is composed of different companies’ generations, and many are not startups. We identified two new phenomena: agricultural servitization, which comprehends the increasing importance of services as crucial input for agricultural production, and agricultural manufacturing, which refers to increasing control over production factors in agriculture.

From the major assumptions proposed by the Theory of the Firm, it is possible to understand the firm as the primary site for innovation. Innovation efforts are justified by the vital need of any firm to generate enough solutions to be validated in the market. All along the market validation process, one can identify the life cycle of the innovation, easily represented by an "S-curve". Whether due to the new solution's success in terms of sales, market share or technological improvements, there is a sequence of stages that are, invariably, repeated in all technologies: startup, development and maturity. This paper presents, based on an S-curve model for innovation expectation and potential, the analysis of the major players (Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft) actions´ in the Japanese videogame console market. The most interesting findings are that firms launch new products somewhere just before the inflexion point of the previous S-curve, and stress the life cycle of each on-going technology by keeping, simultaneously, different versions of the consoles.