Celebrating ISC’s Women in Science
Image: Inn Inn Er, ISC's Data and Digital Team Manager
February 11 marks International Day of Women and Girls in Science – observed to promote and celebrate women working in the many STEM fields that help advance our lives.
At Integrity Systems Company, our focus is data that can help the red meat industry – and helping us improve that data and push digital transformation is Inn Inn Er.
“We help make sure every piece of red meat that Australia produces is trustworthy. That's very important to us and being able to contribute to that statement is so meaningful. Associating your work to that goal is a key driver for day-to-day motivation and being able to use my passion for data to do that is incredible.”
The role of data
Inn Inn joined ISC in January 2022, hired in a new role as manager of the Digital and Data team, as a part of ISC’s new vision strategy and architecture.
ISC’s Digital and Data team have three primary functions:
- Stabilising our existing platforms, such as the NLIS and LPA databases
- Enhancing these existing platforms
- Building platforms that meet the needs of tomorrow
The Digital and Data team consists of technical specialists who take part in digital product management and business analysts who translate the requirements of the business into a technical plan. Within this team, incremental changes are developed, implemented, and trialed in short periods of time, leading to continuous improvement and a better understanding of valuable changes that can help industry through our digital platforms.
“By linking these processes together, we can curate a data set and bring more analytics to not just ISC, but the wider industry. We’re currently working to leverage the data we already have, and that might one day lead to systems with AI or machine-learning, which can add further value that we can give back to the supply chain.”
“My role is very different to what I’ve done in the past because it brings two of my passions together – data and delivering digital transformation. Not many roles combine these two, hence it's quite exciting for me to have this rare opportunity to do something that I love.”
The journey so far
Inn Inn has worked in IT for over 17 years, graduating with a PhD in computer science before moving to Australia. Prepared to enter research and academia, she instead found her way into commercial project work, eventually leading to non-profit, and finally, ISC.
“When I started in computer science, it was not female dominant – the ratio of female to male was closer to 1:5 and the typical job for women in my country was accounting. On top of that, we didn’t have foundational education on technology or digital, so when I went to university, everything was new, and it was stressful, especially for the small group of us women.”
However, even through her initial learning curve, her passion has never faltered.
A new love of industry
“Something I love about this work is how it changes from day-to-day. Other industries don't really experience change at the pace we're experiencing with technology, and one of the big drivers is that I know that I won't be bored. You are always being challenged because whatever you learn today is going to be different tomorrow, and the processes I had 10 years ago are probably non-existent today.”
While Inn Inn is relatively new to agriculture, she has praised the work ethic of Australia’s red meat industry and appreciates the many elements needed for its success – including compliance and biosecurity.
"People might make a judgment on the red meat industry based on what they read on the news. What really attracted me to ISC and MLA is the focus on data and researchers doing their work to get the truth out there. Coming from a researcher background, I think that spirit is still with me. I was so excited to understand and appreciate it – now I eat a piece of meat and I truly understand the effort that went into it.”
“It goes back to our main slogan – stand by what you sell. Integrity is a huge thing, and people often don’t appreciate it until something bad happens. In Chinese, we say ‘prepare for the rainy days’, and this is exactly what we are doing when we collect data to implement and enhance industry compliance.”
Without the help of Inn Inn and her team, many of ISC’s digital projects would never get off the ground. For anyone wishing to pursue a career in STEM, Inn Inn encourages you to take that first step and pursue.
“I think we are very fortunate that we are in a digital age – we have so much information at our fingertips. What I would really encourage is to be courageous. Don't doubt yourself. Don't say to yourself ‘I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough’ or whatever word you use to discourage yourself from pursuing something you are passionate about. It can be challenging, and there is a high bar, especially for women, but you need to take that step. Connect with people, do online courses, ask for help, and if you want to be there, you will get there.”
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