Supply trio plan digital revolution for aquaculture
Water monitoring equipment maker OxyGuard has partnered with feed manufacturers BioMar and Aller Aqua to “revolutionise” aquaculture by providing what it says is the first sector-wide digitilisation software.
The three Danish companies have developed a blockchain-based software tool called COBÁLIA, with a goal of including the entire value chain.
“Whereas numerous companies are introducing different versions of digitalisation platforms, machine learning technologies and AI (artificial intelligence) solutions, the common denominator of these is the lack of a unified goal for the sector as a whole,” said OxyGuard in a press release.
‘Improve everything!’
“COBÁLIA is different and will target the entire value chain under the slogan ‘Improve everything!’. The software collects data across the value chain and compiles them in a cloud solution.
“Through the cloud database, all measurable data is analysed, collated, recorded, distributed, and exchanged for countless purposes, to create transparency, compute best practices, pinpoint areas of beneficial improvements for production, management and environmental practices and for countless other purposes for all stakeholders in the sector.
“There are special features tailored for all the individual stakeholders from the primary producers to governmental institutions and NGOs and everyone in between.”
OxyGuard said the software platform, which will be previewed at Aqua Nor and released in January 2020, offered fish farmers an advanced farm management platform with the benefit of personal farm-specific feedback from other stakeholders involved.
“This could be individually tailored advice from the feed company, auto-generation of official reports for authorities, and in the longer run, the built-in AI unit can prognosticate and optimise production possibilities (i.e. inter-correlation between water chemistry and the physical environment for improved growth) and draw best practice conclusion across data from the thousands of farms connected,” added OxyGuard.
“The feed company can access data on feed performance from thousands of fish farms and evaluate product performance. The sector-wide platform makes it possible to develop numerous add-ons to improve on all measurable aspects in the entire value chain. The data privacy issues are dealt with, and the data owner can determine who can access his data, and has the possibility to anonymise it as well.”
Plug-and-play
OxyGuard said its intention was to develop the sector by strengthening individual businesses, adding that the software is plug-and-play and compatible with almost all equipment on the market.
It is also low-priced, the company claimed.
“It has been important for us to create a solution that benefits everyone,” said OxyGuard chief executive Paw Petersen.
“Small fish farmers should have the possibility to join in as well as big ventures and large companies, as they too play an important role in the overall sector. If we are serious about bridging the sector, innovations should be accessible for everyone.”
