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A new report by food industry researchers, published by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), shows the potential of a breakthrough technology to promote the exchange of information between food supply chains, further increasing consumer confidence in food safety, origin and authenticity can.
The study, Food Data Trust: An Information Exchange Framework, created in conjunction with the RCUK-funded Internet of Food Things Network Plus and led by the University of Lincoln, UK, explores innovations in the burgeoning technology of Data Trusts “. that have been described by technology experts as “glimpsing our collective future” in using big data safely and effectively.
The term “data trust” can refer to a number of different data institutions. This is a general term for formal, often legal, structures for managing data exchanges that protect privacy but allow the benefits of a collective approach. In contrast to the pure data trust approach, in which the responsibility for pooled data is firmly placed in the hands of legally bound trustees, the trust framework approach leaves the responsibility for data firmly to the owners and instead defines rules and mechanisms for the secure exchange and exchange of data as and if needed.
A legal structure can then be developed to allow the sharing arrangements to be extended to a wider community. The framework approach for data exchange is also technology-independent. Practitioners can therefore fall back on established technologies such as blockchain to store data if they so wish.
Given the current challenges facing the food industry, it is believed that this new approach to using data can significantly improve the processes in the supply chain while building consumer confidence about where food comes from, how sustainably it is sourced, and whether it is. what you say.
The researchers propose a “data trust framework” under which companies at all points in the food supply chain, from producers and manufacturers to retailers, can securely exchange selective internal data.
Professor Simon Pearson, Professor of Agricultural and Food Technology at the University of Lincoln, said, “It’s easy to see why companies are reluctant to share such commercially sensitive information. Nobody wants to reveal its advantages to their competitors. But in the data at this age This reluctance is holding back much-needed advances. The safe and limited sharing of data can help identify and address issues ranging from mislabeling and widespread food fraud to the tracing of contaminated food, and expedite product recalls.
“The Data Trust Framework provides a structure under which data, including real-time and time-sensitive, ever-changing data, can be delivered to and securely held by independent and trusted repositories. Strong governance ensures that data providers can be trusted that their data is available. ” Data is only used as specified, while recipients of data and analyzes can rely on the correctness and authenticity of the data provided. “
Julie Pierce, Director of Wales, Information and Science at the Food Standards Agency, said: “The food industry needs to be confident that its sensitive knowledge is safe when it is sharing vital knowledge to improve its work. Governments and consumers need it . ” to be able to trust and tell them what the industry and individual companies are doing. The Data Trust Framework aims to meet both requirements. “
Importantly, the proposed solution is more of a trust framework for the exchange of data between independent organizations than a managed trust that is responsible for pooled data. Food supply chains are made up of several decentralized, disparate collections of data, and a framework is required to control how they can be temporarily and in certain limited ways connected to each other in order to securely exchange information. It could also connect with regulators and other government agencies that need to share secure and trustworthy data.
The framework offers the potential to connect to AI services and gain access to dynamic and fresh data for instant AI-derived information that interconnected participants in the supply chain could benefit from.
The full study contains a roadmap and a full legal report that brings together technology services, viable business models and a legally sound two-tier governance system.
Andrew McMillan, Head of Technology & Digital Markets at Law Firm Pinsent Masons, said: “The secure and selective exchange of data is critical to further creating and developing opportunities for social, economic and environmental well-being, even if the value of data is undisputed “Many companies could do more to maximize the value they get from the data they hold, but they will only do so within a trusted data-sharing framework. This is where we have focused our efforts – to design and implement a to help robust data and an efficient framework that enables industry to see the real value of their data. ”
Consumers who want more sustainability information from the food industry
More information:
Food Data Trust: A Framework for Information Exchange and The Food Data Trust: Legal, Structuring and Governance Reports are available online: www.food.gov.uk/research/resea… -information exchange Provided by the University of Lincoln
Quote: New ‘Data Trust’ technology could transform food supply chains, safety and traceability (2021, March 26), accessed on March 26, 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-03-technology -food-chains-safety-traceability .html
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