Technology keeps on mooooving

By Stuart Finlayson

May 01, 2005: RFID (radio frequency identification) has thus far largely been marketed as a cost-effective means of reducing complexity and improving efficiency in the supply chain. All of which is true, but what is less known is how the technology can be utilised to preserve the nation's health. Stuart Finlayson looks at how one such application is doing just that

The outbreaks of BSE (better known as mad cow disease) in recent years brought sharply into focus just how vulnerable we are as a nation to a potential health catastrophe should we be any less than super vigilant about how we go about managing and testing the livestock.

Mindful of this, Ag-Id, a Perth-based inventor of patented livestock DNA fingerprinting techniques, has commissioned Optimiser (creators of an Authoritative Metadata Engine for managing digital assets in real-time) to provide a comprehensive digital management solution for its new Agri-Scan Services and software applications.

According to Ag-Id, the Agri-Scan Services have been designed to transform current livestock management practices by providing low-cost, authentic control for tracing individual animal identities "from the farm gate to the dinner plate."

Agri-Scan Services are directed at a fast-emerging field within the food industry aimed at providing quality assurance over the entire life of any organism destined for consumption by humans. In the aftermath of the BSE outbreaks, it is widely thought that consumer and regulatory demand for such information can only increase as debate on genetic modification and application of new techniques continues.

"Ag-Id combines a variety of new techniques with its own proprietary DNA-testing methods to create a reliable and repeatable livestock registration system, at a fraction of the cost seen in the industry to date," says Josef Pfistershammer, Ag-Id's Founder, managing director and inventor of the company's patented DNA analysis techniques and processes. "We can give reassurance to anyone involved in the purchase of livestock and meat products - including the consumer - that the history and source of a particular animal is known.

"An essential aspect of Agri-Scan Services is the ability to confidently authenticate and validate identities of both physical samples from the cattle and people who use the system, and match them to various digital records collected in the registry. Optimiser's Digital Management technology is strategic in providing comprehensive asset, software and user management capabilities, as well as the necessary business reporting so we can actually bill for our services."

Optimiser's Ozone consulting team will build and deploy Ag-Id's Web-service interfaces and data repositories, integrating them with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tagging and scanning devices, as well as the DNA analysis tools and software applications used by farmers, abattoirs, purchasers and retailers.

The integrity and safety of the digital codes generated by Agri-Scan's novel DNA analysis will be secured, as will the credentials of users of the system, by Optimiser's Digital Management Zone.