Interactive traceability tool showcases future potential of NLIS data.

Integrity Systems Company (ISC) has developed an interactive traceability tool to showcase the expanse of animal movement data collected by the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) since it was established 20 years ago. 

Visualising the value of NLIS data, the tool represents data sets in a compelling and visually rich way, highlighting cattle, sheep and goat movements, traceability, and biosecurity related risk areas. 

From opening up opportunities like tracking the spread of diseases and quarantine areas, to using the tool to hotspot outbreak areas, the future potential of utilising NLIS and additional integrity system data is endless. 

Capturing data points throughout a one-year period, a timeline-driven map effectively conveyed animal movement and data patterns, producing geographical and time-based insights. 

The map-based visualisation tool showcases the concentration of animal movements around the East and West coasts. It highlights cattle movements vastly outnumbering sheep and goat movements in the West, and the concentration of sheep transfers in Victoria. 

Similarly, the data highlights significant spikes and reductions in transfers of sheep and animal movements throughout the year. 

Key features of the visualisation include the ability to:

• filter and select a single or combination of species to visualise
• filter to a specific origin and destination of movement
• pause the timeline of movement and jump to a specific date within the period.

ISC Chief Executive Officer, Dr Jane Weatherley, said data is a valuable asset that has the potential to improve quality of service and efficiencies in industry processes. 

“This tool is a good example of how we can package data insights up in a way that makes it easy to consume, allowing us as an industry to make more informed decisions,” Dr Weatherley said. 

“The visual representation of animal movements revealed insights into the data that weren’t apparent when viewed in its usual table format.

“Investing in accurate, data-driven tools opens up great opportunity within the red meat integrity system, while enriching and enhancing data sets provides valuable insights to build industry capacity.” 

The data visualisation project is the first iteration of additional interactive visualisations that have been identified and considered for development using NLIS animal movement data.