By Bethaney Lee

Innovation comes in many forms and often begins with vision. The Cybersecurity Youth Apprenticeship Initiative (CYAI) boasts a partner whose vision extends past the clouds and pierces the atmosphere, as Avid Solutions is a startup that aims to combine advancements in technology and agriculture to establish a self-sustaining agricultural system among the stars.  

The agriculture research and development firm has partnered with CYAI for over a year implementing the firm's Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) intended for individuals interested in becoming Cyber Security Support Technicians, but though the program continues to grow the vision has remained the same.  

Avid Solution already manages data and produces management zones for field operations using techniques that include soil sampling, seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, herbicides, and fungicide spraying. But it is the emerging field of Space Agritech that has captured the unbridled imagination of Avid Solution's founder, Dr. Malcolm Adams, who believes there is a potential to revolutionize food production and develop sustainable agriculture methods for the planet.  

"There are so many variables and things that can go around. I mean, people can just burn the crops. You know what I mean? It says so much just right there. But as a farmer looking at things like opportunity costs and having to reverse engineer that study, you can abate every hazard that you can think of and create all these contingencies in case of inclement weather and droughts, floods, but there's no control," Adams said.

Instead, Adams appeals to the tight containment of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for food production in the upper atmosphere, "because the farming is essentially done by robots and computers. It's pretty much automated because it's just air, water, and light that we're using. There's no soil, there isn't a lot of maintenance or anything like that. Really no noise. It's the most controlled, it's a clean environment. I mean it literally has to be airtight. So the oxygen is controlled, like everything is controlled within the environment."

The best altitude for a space habitat is the one that balances the need for gravity and protection from the elements with the cost of construction and operation, Adams said.

"For example, a habitat that is designed to be a permanent home for humans would need to be located at a lower altitude, where there is more gravity and a more hospitable environment. However, the lower the altitude, the more atmosphere there is, and the more difficult it will be to protect the habitat from the elements. This means that the cost of construction and operation will be higher," Adams said.  

He added there are countless other things to consider like whether the habitat is designed for short-term stays or extended durations, but "ultimately the decision of where to station a space habitat is a complex one that must be made on a case-by-case basis."

But the truth is, "we are trying to solve a two-fold issue, a food security and national cybersecurity issue," Adams added.  

Building out the firm's apprenticeship program has been a pivotal step for Avid Solutions which has a driving force to "help America get that edge back," and take hold of the opportunity that Adam's says feels "like a second space race."

This "space race" will indeed require a centralized, sizeable cybersecurity force, but not all apprentices within the program are as enticed by Space Agritech, and Adams knows this as he likes to encourage room to grow.  

"I allow them the opportunity to become self-starters. Most of them are anyway because they're intellectually curious. And the program fuels that intellectual curiosity, because it also gives you the opportunity to get more than one certification and to go back into the program and get on and do a whole other learning track altogether. There's, you know, there's IT for healthcare. Now there's IT for construction," Adams said.  

The opportunities don't end for apprentices after the program ends either. Adams said apprentices are offered job placement either within the firm or with a partner's firm upon obtaining their certifications.  

Though not every apprentice is invested in the "space race," some have joined Avid Solutions team and its goal of sustainable food production in space to further cultivate the idea that the future of sustainable agriculture may come from above our heads and not from beneath our feet.