We solve technological challenges to allow organizations to operate more efficiently, safely, and constructively. Our projects span multiple sectors, including those below.
Sustainable Agriculture Systems
Technology Development and Facilitation
Heartland develops, operates, and maintains multiple sustainable agriculture systems that incorporate economic analyses, offset payments, and carbon markets to encourage farmers to implement sustainable farming practices. Our tools enable farmers to compare and contrast their practices, economic results, and sustainability metrics against other farmers for the purpose of identifying optimized field-level practices. Our tools have been developed in partnership with the Illinois Corn Growers Association, Ecosystem Services Market Consortium, and Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District, and support farming throughout the United States and part of Canada.
Precision Conservation Management (PCM)
Platform development, O&M, data analytics, project support, and agronomic small and medium enterprises
Precision Conservation Management is the premier conservation program of the Illinois Corn Growers Association. Their primary goal is to integrate conservation practices and financial data to help farmers understand how specific management changes can impact both their environmental impact and their bottom line. Since the inception of the program in 2015, Heartland has developed the PCM data portal and supporting analytic, reporting, and project management tools for participating farmers, and provides agronomic specialist to help farmers implement sustainable farming while maintaining economic viability.
Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC)
Development, O&M, and continued enhancement of a comprehensive MMRV
From 2020 to 2025, Heartland led the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium development of the measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification (MMRV) platform for ESMC's Eco-Harvest, a voluntary, next-generation national ecosystem services market program. Heartland developed ESMC's digital producer portal and MMRV which is the data collection platform supporting Eco-Harvest projects. In May 2023, ESMC and Heartland signed a follow-on contract to continue Heartland's data support activities.
Saving Tomorrow's Agriculture Resources (STAR)
National conservation tool development and platform support
Heartland partnered with Houston Engineering, Inc. to support the national expansion of the STAR (Saving Tomorrow's Agricultural Resources) web tool - a platform designed to help landowners implement conservation practices that keep their land productive and profitable.
As part of this effort, Heartland worked closely with STAR staff to standardize field forms across a wider range of cropping systems as the platform extended its reach into western states. This included supporting the integration of fallow and grazing forms, ensuring that producers engaged in these practices could participate fully in the platform and receive conservation recommendations relevant to their operations.
The field forms and scoring systems developed through this collaboration help connect producers with tailored conservation resources and support STAR affiliates in delivering those recommendations efficiently. Heartland is proud to have contributed to a platform that better reflects the diversity of American agriculture and helps landowners make conservation-minded decisions that support both their operations and the long-term health of the land.
Cybersecurity Solutions
Cybersecurity is a critical need for all organizations, large or small, for-profit or non-profit, government or private industry. And while there are many point or testing solutions, there is a significant lack of tools that help organizations operationalize sound, standardized cyber risk and management processes. Heartland has addressed this need with the development of the Cyber Secure Dashboard.
Cyber Secure Dashboard
Guiding organizations through complex federal cybersecurity standards/ regulations
Heartland developed a web-based cybersecurity dashboard demystifying challenging cybersecurity compliance processes and regulations set forth by the federal government. The Cyber Secure Dashboard operationalizes a sound, standardized cyber risk assessment and management process. It provides enterprises with both a process and the details necessary to comply with government mandated cybersecurity requirements for information systems that process and store controlled unclassified information (CUI). In addition, the Dashboard facilitates long-term compliance, cybersecurity awareness throughout the corporation, the sharing and vetting of an organization's cybersecurity posture with all stakeholders, including government contracting officers, prime contractors, and insurance providers, and facilitates maintaining compliance through an evolving landscape of potential security threats.
Critical Infrastructure
We develop tools to support the National Infrastructure Protection Plan through applied research conducted at the Department of Homeland Security's Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI) at the University of Illinois in the area of threat-based assessments of port infrastructure. We collaborate on prototyping tools to better understand and mitigate the possible effects of port disruptions and their potential impact on industry, economics, and supply chains.
CIRI programmatic support
Supporting applied research & technology transition from academia to industry
Heartland provided technical and business support to the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute - a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence. As part of the University of Illinois, CIRI conducts research and education that enhances the resiliency of the nation's critical infrastructures and the businesses and public entities that own and operate those assets and systems.
Maritime Risk Assessment
Developing numerical tools to support the national infrastructure protection plan
Heartland is conducting applied research sponsored by the University of Illinois in the area of threat-based assessments of port infrastructure, including Port Resilience tools that help stakeholders better understand and mitigate the possible effects of transportation system disruptions and their potential economic, supply chain, and industry impacts.
Research Applications
Heartland has supported applied research applications by engaging in scientific research and engineering development, providing and maintaining technology solutions, and facilitating and managing collaborative partnerships.
Software Commons
High Performance Computing Software & Systems
Heartland sponsored an internal research and development (IRAD) program to initiate the development of The Software Commons - a platform intended to provide engineers, physicists, and other computational scientists with direct access to and use of the latest and most advanced academic, government, and private industry computational codes and tools. Using this resource, private and public organizations would ultimately be empowered to research, develop, share, and employ scientific and high performance computational codes while preserving proprietary methods, processes, and information.
Scientific Software Development
Portable, Hand-Held Spectroscopy
Heartland developed software tools for SpectroClick's portable spectroscopy device - a portable, accurate, consumer-easy chemical testing device. The technology lets citizen scientists immediately determine if lead or arsenic is present in drinking water. It enables farmers to determine whether fertilizer is needed in a field, or if soil is contaminated. A specialized app, using a webcam to capture data, processes the spectrum quickly, comprehensively, and with more flexibility and portability than has ever been available. SpectroClick's AAH spectrometers are affordable, accurate, and innovative.
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Growing the Local Aviation Community
Heartland led a local group of businesses, entrepreneurs, and educational institutions to explore applications and collaborations for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). This led to a community effort to host the 2014 Aviation Innovation Conference at the University of Illinois - a conference designed to grow the local aviation industry by building a stronger aviation community. The Heartland team also facilitated collaborative efforts between Sinclair Community College's Unmanned Aerial Systems Training Center and the University of Illinois.
