The digital world: digital transformation and the food system

Recorded: 2 March 2022 (10:00 - 12:00 UK time)

What’s this webinar about?

This webinar is about the digital transformations happening in support of the food system. These include technical and digital advances in production, and innovations like crop robotics; the potential for data sharing and collaboration; and the changes wrought by the accelerated change to online vs. offline commerce. Our experts will share their knowledge and experiences, and give participants the chance to join discussions on what innovators need to achieve digital transformation.

Who is this webinar for?

Anyone working in the food sector, including:

• Production
• Manufacturing
• Retail and brands
• Engineering and agri-tech
• Electro-technical and digital
• Packaging industry

What will participants gain?

• Insights into the current state of play of digitization in the food chain
• Information on how the big brands plan to incorporate digitization in their future strategies
• The chance to hear from subject experts about their experiences of digitization
• The chance to join a discussion on how digital transformation can realize its full potential

Agenda

10:00 - 10:05 Welcome and introduction, Sara Walton, Sector Lead (Food sector), British Standards Institution (BSI)

10:05 - 11:10 Panel one: What digital transformation will mean for the food system overall – impacts on efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability

• Overview and context for digital transformation in the food system - Dan Byles, Chair, Digital Strategic Advisory Group, British Standards Institution (BSI) & Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), UnifAI Technology and Hazem Danny Nakib, Founding Member - Digital Strategic Advisory Group, British Standards Institution (BSI)
• Economic situation and requirements to enable change and digitization in the food system - James Lowenberg-DeBoer, Professor, Harper Adams University & President, International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA)
• End to end supply chain digitization: a new way to ensure collaboration and funding for transformation - Jason Cresswell, Head of Innovation Management, Sweetbridge, Inc.
• How digital systems are being used within the food system; and how they might be in future - Keith Thornhill, Head of Food and Beverage, Siemens
• Q&A and discussion on what conditions are required for digital transformation to properly reach its potential for the food system in both UK and internationally

11:10 - 11:15 Comfort break

11:15 - 11:55 Panel two: Farm to fork – from new ways of managing livestock to delivering for consumers

• Livestock management – the impact of digitization on sustainability and efficiency - John Royle, Chief Livestock Adviser, National Farmers' Union (NFU)
• Retail innovation and the future commercial environment - Toby Pickard, Head of Insight - Innovation & Futures, IGD
• Q & A and discussion on the challenges for those making innovative changes and what the hopes are for the future: what is the ideal scenario?

11:55 - 12:00 Close of the webinar, Sara Walton, Sector Lead (Food sector), British Standards Institution (BSI)

To learn how digital transformation is impacting the food chain and how you can respond, please watch the webinar replay now.

Sara Walton is the Food Sector Lead (Standards) for BSI, the National Standards Body for the UK and a founding member of ISO (International Organization for Standardization).

She has over 10 years’ experience of standardization, working with representative stakeholders from diverse backgrounds. I’ve led UK committees in food safety, quality and occupational health and safety, providing practical standards solutions in areas of interest to government, industry and civil society.

Sara has responsibility at BSI for standardization for the food chain, particularly addressing innovation and other key issues such as risk management, resilience and trust. 

Prior to working for BSI, Sara worked in business information publishing, creating and delivering knowledge solutions for organizations based on their legal and compliance needs.

Former soldier & politician. Guinness world record holding ocean rower & polar adventurer. Smart Cities, Internet of Things, data & AI, clean tech, energy, environment, politics. Chief Commercial Officer at AI-as-a-Service company UnifAI Technology. Chair of SmarterUK, and Chair of the British Standards Institute (BSI) Standards, Policy & Strategy Committee.

Former Member of Parliament for North Warwickshire & Bedworth. Served on the Energy & Climate Change Select Committee and the Science & Technology Select Committee. Strong interest in technology, digital transformation, sustainability, smart infrastructure policy.

Previous Technology and Sustainability Leadership Roles have included:

• Chair, All Party Parliamentary Environment Group
• Founding Chair, All Party Parliamentary Smart Cities Group
• Founding Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil & Gas
• Chair, Conservative Technology Forum Energy Committee
• Chair, Clean Air Alliance
• Parliamentary Advisor to the Green Alliance
• Member of the UK Government Ministerial Smart City Forum
• Member, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Futures Advisory Board
• Member of the Energy & Utility Forum Advisory Board
• Member of the Friends of Europe Climate-Energy-Industry EU Working Group
• Patron of the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum
• President of the Young Person's Trust for the Environment

Prior to Parliament, trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served in the British Army for nine years. Served operationally in Bosnia and Kosovo, and at the UK Ministry of Defence as a staff officer responsible for strategic medical planning. Consistently promoted early, at 27 was the youngest serving Major in the Army.

After leaving the Armed Forces, served on the board of a National Health Service Trust as a non-executive director with responsibility for emergency response readiness, strategic planning and governance. Youngest member of the board.

Expeditions all over the world including to Bolivia, Peru, East Africa, Canada and Borneo. Holds two Guinness World Records for skiing to the Magnetic North Pole and crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a wooden rowing boat.

Hazem previously worked in various roles at the Royal Bank of Canada and Boston Consulting Group in business financial services, corporate venture, digital transformation and strategy, joint ventures, and financial technologies. He has also founded and created several incubator and accelerator programs in North America and Europe. Hazem holds a First Class Degree in Law from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelors in International Business (High Distinction) from the University of Toronto. 

Prof. James Lowenberg-DeBoer holds the Elizabeth Creak Chair in Agri-Tech Applied Economics at Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, UK. He is president of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) and co-editor of the journal Precision Agriculture. His research focuses on the economics of agricultural technology, including precision agriculture and crop robotics. He has published 89 articles in refereed journals, two books and six chapters in other books. He serves on the British Standards committee BS 8646, Use of crop robots in agriculture and horticulture – Code of practice, and he is the UK representative on the International Standards Organization (ISO) Strategic Advisory Group on Smart Farming. His research is informed by experience as a farmer and farm landlord in the USA. 

Jason is Head of Innovation Management at Sweetbridge which provides technology and business model solutions for supply chains. Jason has over a decade’s experience working at the intersection between the digitisation of supply chains and the management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk.

Keith Thornhill started his career completing an apprenticeship with British Rail Engineering Ltd in Crewe and entered the automation industry in 1986 as an internal sales engineer. After key account management and business manager roles, Keith joined Siemens in 2001 as a business development manager and now heads up the Food and Beverage business for Siemens UK and Ireland

Keith’s career has mainly been focused on encouraging innovation for UK packaging machinery manufactures and latterly is identifying the operational efficiency and production flexibility benefits that Integrated automation technology and Digitalisation will deliver to food and beverage manufacturers.

Keith is Chairman of the Industry Advisory Board for the National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University and is also a member of the IMechE Food and Drink committee.

Seamus Galvin is Core Innovation Program Manager at BSI Group, a leading business assurance company providing instruments of trust and performance improvement solutions to clients across 190 countries globally (bsigroup.com). Seamus manages a diverse project portfolio focused on enabling next generation digital assurance approaches complementing BSI's existing standards, audit and consulting solutions - leveraging emerging developments in data interoperability, blockchain, IoT and immersive/AR in particular, combining internal capabilities with emerging technology vendor partnerships. These solutions solve for key digital assurance needs such as transparency, traceability, digital verification, and continuous risk mitigation across a range of BSI's captive industry domains. Seamus has a BSc and MSC in Computer Systems from University of Limerick, Ireland.

John has been involved in the agriculture, red meat and food sector for many years having previously worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food State Veterinary Service, the Rural Payments Agency Inspectorate, before joining the National Farmers Union in 2008. He became the NFUs Chief Livestock Adviser in November 2014 and now leads the national livestock board covering a diverse and varied range of policy and supply chain issues.

Toby Pickard is IGD’s innovation and futures specialist. He heads up IGD’s  insights on innovations and futures, and the impact they could have on retailers, suppliers and shoppers.

His work focuses on innovations, the future of retail, digital insights, sustainability strategies and macro trends within the food and grocery sector to create strategic insights for industry. He regularly works with leading retailers and manufacturers to create content and insights focusing on the future of retail.

BSI is also committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with this webinar contributing to Goal 2 on ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.