Digital Value Chain

How does the Digital Value Chain work?

Integrity Systems Company (ISC) is responsible for the development and delivery of significant components of Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) Digital Value Chain Strategy, which will ensure the Australian red meat industry can make better use of existing and new data.

The strategy will deliver improved feedback systems for producers including Livestock Data Link (LDL), along with conducting research and development that seeks to find the best digital technology and database management systems that will strengthen our integrity systems over time.                                                                                     

How does the Digital Value Chain work?

What is the Digital Value Chain?

What is the Digital Value Chain?

The Digital Value Chain is described as the red meat value chain that is enabled by digital technology.

Why does the Australian red meat industry need a Digital Value Chain Strategy?

Globally, digital technology and data science are advancing rapidly, and the Australian meat and livestock industries need to capitalise on these innovations.

The red meat industry’s Digital Value Chain Strategy will enable the seamless capture, integration and interpretation of the vast and increasing range and volume of data that is being generated through existing and new technologies. 

The Digital Value Chain Strategy will foster the long-term prosperity of the Australian red meat and livestock industry by enabling it to increase productivity and product value across the value chain, as well as strengthening the industry’s integrity systems.

The strategy will aim to transform industry through enabling a value chain data sharing culture, which will facilitate innovative business models, increasing the agility of data driven decision making that translates into increasing value chain efficiency and profit. 

Vision

The vision is that by 2025, value chain stakeholders are utilising the world’s best digital technology and connected with shared industry data.

The key principles driving investment in this strategy are about: 

  • Making life easier: A focus on improving the day-to-day operations of all stakeholders
  • Openness: Provide the opportunity to access and reuse agreed data in more than one way to limit duplication
  • Connections: there is more value in linking information than isolated silos
  • Trust: Improving the trust relationship and social licence between stakeholders is critical
  • Driving prosperity: Investments & new business models that enable both profitability and enjoyment
  • Innovation: Facilitate the development of new solutions with limited restrictions
  • Value chain focused: Utilising information within and across value chain segments.

The Strategy will deliver a range of benefits to producers and the red meat value chain including:

  • Reduced paperwork
  • Data driven decisions
  • Useful value chain technology
  • Tell our sustainability and provenance story.

The outcomes of this strategy will be:

  • A virtually integrated value chain with interoperable data systems (feedback systems) from paddock to plate
  • Stakeholders have the skills and infrastructure to take advantage of a digital future
  • World leading data services and functionality driving value chain business decisions
  • Customer trust and confidence through innovative industry integrity and sustainability systems.

MLA Data Platform

Among the projects ISC is working on as part of the Digital Value Chain Strategy is the development of an industry-ownedMLA managed Data Platform. 

Development of the Data Platform will support Meat Industry Strategic Plan (MISP) objectives to optimise business decision based on data and analytics by making MLA and industry datasets and information easier to access through standardised and secure Application Programming Interface (APIs) tools and services, governed under MLA data principles.  

MLA is custodian of 25 years-plus of research data, developed analytic models and industry data which currently has untapped potential.   

The first stage of developing the data platform strategy is maximising data sets made available through previous and future MLA and industry investments. Connection with other data sets will be part of a second phase of development.  

Core Principles 

MLA’s unique position to provide data and analytics to the industry is summarised by the following core principles: 

  • Profit from disruption: Changing how agile value chains operate using real time data and information to drive decisions that underpin industry performance

  • Leadership: Underpinned by continuous innovation and global and local partnerships

  • Cultural change: Supporting the value chain to value and use data, generate trust and understand the benefits of transparency through the value chain by sharing data 

  • Independence: Enable the linking and interoperability of industry data sets without conflicting interests. 

  • Value Adding: Data enrichment and analytic insights at whole of industry scale.  

What will the Data Platform deliver for industry?  

Through the APIs provided by the data platform, industry will be able to access MLA/industry owned data sets and analytic models enabling them to develop decision support tools and services.  

The platform will also act as an enabler and best practice resource upon which industry can look to build Data Science capability and data culture.  

Agtech, along with hardware/software providers will be able to leverage the available data and analytic insights into their tool and service offers, supporting red meat industry digital enablement.