"It is important that both public and private actors enter into dialogue around ongoing initiatives and discuss ambitions and goals for how we will work with data and data sharing in the seafood industry. Sharing data and digitalization is an industrial challenge that must be solved together and that will realize increased value creation in the industry in addition to helping to solve key challenges we face today, such as fish health and fish welfare," says Nina Stangeland, CEO of NCE Seafood.
Experts and leaders gather
Experts from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Seafood Norway/OPS Seafood, AkvaGroup, BarentsWatch and Aquacloud gave presentations on key issues within digitalization when they met on the first day after the Easter break.
"I am proud that today we have hosted one of the most important meetings on digitalization in the aquaculture industry ever. We have set an arena where authorities, farmers, data owners, aquaculture suppliers, industry organizations and various data sharing initiatives have met for a frank discussion about what is needed to increase the speed of digitalization of this industry." This is stated by the chairman of the board of NCE Seafood and industry expert, Einar Wathne, and emphasizes how important it is to meet to discuss challenges and solutions.
There was also no doubt that the topic was engaging and that the actors agreed that digitalization must be high on the agenda and that increased interaction around this will help realize the potential that lies in data sharing.
To achieve effective and value-creating interaction around data sharing, one must work with good digital infrastructure, strengthen trust and concretize the value proposition of data sharing. In addition, we must work organizationally by moving in the direction that insight and knowledge from data are generally valued more highly in companies and organizations than is the case today. It is encouraging to hear how the public sector wants to facilitate effective reporting and have a relevant regulatory framework built on event-based data collection, says Stangeland when summarizing her reflections from the day.
The value of data
Data sharing through industry initiatives was also on the agenda. AquaCloud is a key digitalization initiative in the aquaculture industry consisting of leading aquaculture companies that collect data along the entire coast. The initiative started in 2016 and is a driving force for data sharing in the industry, with the goal of collecting and sharing data to contribute to development and innovation in the industry.
Kristian Blom, CEO of AquaCloud, hopes that the motives behind data sharing will change:
"I am concerned that data sharing must move from being motivated by regulatory requirements to sharing that is driven by a desire to support innovation, research and development. It is important that we are able to produce good results and solid value propositions from the data we share in order for sharing to be relevant and interesting for the industry."
An important step for the industry is to clarify the value of data and data sharing for players in the seafood industry. At the same time, it is important to work together to establish digital infrastructure and build ecosystems that facilitate collaboration and effective sharing of data across players in the industry. These challenges must be solved by the seafood industry together.
Executive Seafood Forum
The Executive Seafood Forum is a meeting place for the top managers of NCE Seafood's partners. The forum is an important meeting place for knowledge sharing and dialogue in the work for sustainable growth and development of the seafood industry. The Executive Seafood Forum is held twice a year, and this week digitalization was on the agenda. Digitalization is one of five focus areas in the cluster, and the ambition is that data, insight and knowledge will contribute to more innovation and sustainable growth in the aquaculture industry.
