India has a history of more than 100 years of organised teaching, research and development of agriculture, and has grown from few teaching and research institutes at the beginning of 20th century to one of the most productive, vibrant and advanced agricultural systems in the world. Agriculture plays a vital role in the Indian economy and contributes 17.4% to the country’s GDP. Government of India has launched several programmes for sustainable development and the state of Karnataka now aspires to be the national hub for smart agriculture. The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UASD) has been exploring the possibility of establishing the Centre of Excellence in smart agriculture with the objective of skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling agriculture graduates, and to provide industry-ready man power and to educate farmers through the use of ICT. The university has been a pioneer in imparting quality agriculture education, and has introduced digital technology in several domains. A thrust has been given to areas such as agri-informatics in precision agriculture, conservation agriculture, mechanisation, use of robotics, drone technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, trade and market intelligence, weather forecast and developing suitable agri-web-portals. The role of agri-business and agricultural entrepreneurship is critical in the overall economy of many developing countries. UASD is implementing a World Bank funded Institution Development Plan (IDP) under National Agriculture Higher Education Project (NAHEP) which has a prime objective of developing entrepreneurship and promoting start-ups. The UASD is utilising digital technology in order to empower students, staff and farmers in future digital agriculture and allied sectors.