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Improving data use within Canadian agrifood sector

CAPACITY BUILDING PRIORITY

Data and ICT Management

PROJECT TIMELINE
May 2021 to March 2023
PROJECT STATUS
Fund I: Complete
TOTAL INVESTMENT
$441,254

Consortia Contribution
$3,189

Cluster Contribution
$438,065

PARTNERS

Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative

Alberta Data Institute

Goal

To address data literacy knowledge gaps to better understand important issues arising from the increasing use of data in the agrifood sector, such as data ownership, standardization and privacy.

Project Summary

The EMILI Data Initiative project aims to strengthen the data ecosystem and digital value chain of the Canadian agrifood sector through the facilitation of four areas of focus:

  1. Advisory Working Group:
    Diverse representatives from across the value chain providing oversight and recommendations on the future direction and long-term development of the Data Initiative.

  2. Pathfinding Project:
    A targeted collaborative applied research project designed to strengthen the capacity of the Canadian agri-food sector to respond to gaps in foundational knowledge and the evolving public policy environment related to data-intensive technologies. Subject matter experts from the post-secondary, non-profit and public sectors will be engaged with the goal of building a sustainable community of experts interested in working together with the agri-food sector on important issues related to the data and data-intensive technologies.

  3. Data Literacy Training Program:
    Dedicated to providing people and organizations across the value chain with accurate, balanced and up-to-date knowledge regarding the successful use of data. Alongside the development of data literacy training resources, a structured outreach program will be used to engage key stakeholders across the value chain and identify the most pressing data literacy needs within the agri-food sector.

  4. Pilot Project:
    A pre-competitive technology demonstration project designed to foster hands-on collaboration to identify gaps in the current data ecosystem and data management practices. The pilot project will engage primary producers and early value chain actors in exploring the potential of precision agriculture data to measure the environmental performance of farming operations.

Results and Impact

  • The creation of a network of partners and the integration of training materials and information into academia, civil society, government and private sector. There was a heavy emphasis on primary producers and small businesses, to increase their capacity, manage their data and improve their literacy with digital technologies.
  • Legal and interoperability pathfinding reports responded to key knowledge gaps throughout the value chain, developed skills and built capacity in data governance and literacy training content across the sector. EMILI continues to work with partner organizations to deliver in-person and online training.
  • The EMILI Data Initiative preceded the development of the Canadian Agri-Food Data Initiative (CADI), created to address data governance issues. This will be the first of its kind to facilitate knowledge transfer within the sector.
  • EMILI plans to continue work on CADI and in this space, including the expansion into international networks beyond the US, with a particular focus in Australia and New Zealand.