25 March 2020 update - COVID-19 response - This workshop is now to be reformatted from an in-person workshop in Rotorua to an online webinar series, probably of four sessions of about 60 minutes each over a 2-4 week period, with fact sheets, participant interactions and Q&A in between each session. Further details to follow once the lockdown priorities of 25 March are in place. Please email the convenor, Kenneth Irons, CEO, Precision Farming and AgriTechNZ council member, with recommendations, advice, questions and suggestions at kenneth.irons@precisionfarming.co.nz. Thank you.

Data has always been at the heart of business decision-making. Farmers, agricultural companies, agtech businesses, farming industry trade bodies, co-operatives, regional and NZ Government departments and others related to NZ agriculture recognise this imperative.

For NZ agriculture-related companies to remain competitive in an increasingly globally-connected world, their data must be more complete, timely, accurate, and comprehensible. Standards help make this possible.

A challenge for implementers is knowing what standards are available and the purpose of each. They need to understand how each standard relates to other standards, and how various technologies and tools inter-relate. This workshop will address these points, prioritising breadth over depth, but with references to enable participants to dig deeper.

This workshop is to be lead by Jim Wilson, Global CEO and President of OAGi (https://oagi.org/NewsArticles/JimWilsonCEO/tabid/252/Default.aspx) and CTO of AgGateway. The workshop builds on the work undertaken by the Precision Ag Association of NZ ("PAANZ") over the last two years, the signficant work that has gone into Datalinker and NZ Farm Data Standards, the recent developments relating to the NZ Government's Industry Transformation Plan, Integrated Farm Planning and other initiatives, some assisted by AgriTechNZ, as well as emerging dialolgue within and between New Zealand and Australia to facilitate greater collaboration between ag sector organisations.

Attendance is for agribusiness leaders, both commercial and technical, for administrators, regulators, for local, regional and national government officials, as well as those from industry bodies and co-operatives.

The agenda covers, in eight sessions; Standards Influencers; Standards and Competitive Advantage; Business Processes; Data Standards; Reference Data; Moving Data (APIs etc); Data Ownership; and Practical Strategies for New Zealand entities wanting to implement technologies in line with global best-practice standards.

The workshop follows MobileTECH, but attendance at MobileTECH is not a requirement.

Attendance, refreshments and lunch are free as the event is sponsored by PAANZ.

RSVP by noon Thursday 26 March 2020.