Digital Passport industry communications

Sent on behalf of the Digital Passport Leadership Group

Combinable Crops Digital Passport Consultation provides invaluable feedback

The industry-wide consultation for the combinable crops digital passport was successfully concluded last Friday, 2 February 2024. The three-month period of open feedback achieved its main aim – prompting wide discussion about the proposed business case, with several hundred responses received, whether from representative associations or individuals.

The process engaged stakeholders across the supply chain, with feedback received from growers, hauliers, merchants, and processors.

The discussion and feedback included challenging the assumptions and figures on which the Business Case was based. The main topics of feedback centred on the usage and process of the proposed system, with a focus on connectivity and availability of devices. A range of views were also gathered on the proposed costs and benefits of the system.

Now that the consultation has closed, the Leadership Group will collate and analyse the feedback from all channels. There are hundreds of replies to sift through from the online portals which have been available, as well as those directly sent from businesses.  

Once these responses have been drawn together, the industry Development and Data groups will convene in early March.  These groups will review the key points of feedback related to their sections of the business case, adding more detail, and discussing changes that are needed to be made.

Once this refining process is complete and the business case renewed, the Leadership Group will decide on next steps and how they wish to proceed.

Industry will be kept updated throughout this process, with regular communications over the coming weeks.

Notes for editors:

• Switching to a single, industry wide digital passport as set out in the consultation is expected to: improve data integrity and security; provide scope for real-time assurance checks; reduce costs across the supply chain; and increase confidence and credibility to growers, buyers' customers, stakeholders, and regulators.
• The industry Leadership Group is chaired by AHDB Board member, Stephen Briggs. It meets weekly, and comprises:
  • Merchants and animal feed business – represented by the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC)
  • Farmers – represented by the National Farmers Union (NFU) and NFU Scotland
  • Receivers – represented by UK Flour Millers, the Maltsters Association and Seed Crushers and Oilseed Processors.
• For more information, visit the Digital Passport page. You can also:
  • Read the full business case
  • See the comprehensive list of frequently asked questions

Sent on behalf of the Digital Passport Leadership Group

Three weeks left to respond to the Combinable Crops Digital Passport Consultation

Cereals and oilseeds producers are being urged to have their say on the business case for implementing a digital passport for combinable crops, before a consultation on the proposals closes on Friday, 2 February 2024.

Since 20 November 2023, industry bodies have been holding webinars and open meetings and discussing the business case with individual businesses. These meetings have been hugely valuable in gaining feedback and understand the wider industry perspective.

The Digital Passport Leadership Group will continue communicating with trade association members and the wider industry to ensure all have an opportunity to take part in the consultation.

A spokesperson for the Leadership Group said:

“The consultation is a vital process in helping to refine and improve the business case, whilst answering a raft of industry questions.

“This consultation is to ensure that the business case proposed is robust and comprehensive. There have been several events across the country where passport users have taken opportunity to feed in their thoughts and ask questions. This has been beneficial in establishing views on the business case and highlighting gaps that need to be addressed.

“The consultation runs until 2 February, and we encourage all passport users to use that time to input into the process and give their thoughts on the business case.”

So far in the consultation questions have focused on: cost and connectivity; how the passport works when out of range to connect to the web; and system ownership. Detail on these aspects is set out in notes below.

Once the consultation is complete, the industry Leadership Group will review all feedback and decide on a way forward. If the group feels industry response is positive, they will look to fund the project through several means. One of which will be to approach the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Sector Council for levy funding.

All information on how to engage and who to contact at trade associations can be found on the Digital Passport webpage. This webpage, hosted on behalf of the industry working group, contains the full business case, as well as a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions which link directly to the relevant business case section.

For those who are not part of a trade association, AHDB is hosting a feedback form on the same webpages to allow all feedback to be collated for the leadership group.

Key consultation questions

Costs

Q. What is the cost of the system?

A. The annual running cost of the Digital Passport is currently estimated at £396k. Over a ten-year period, this cost of close to £4m will be outweighed by projected industry wide saving of £6m (see table below).

Digital Passport - Headline Costs and Savings

Connectivity

Q. How will the system operate on farms and delivery points with no connection?

A. In simple terms the data will be entered offline and then upload to the system as soon as connection is recovered. Drivers will leave the collection point with a passport saved to their device/smartphone which will automatically upload to the digital passport database when the device finds data signal. Where there is no connectivity at intake, passports will be transferred from drivers’ devices to intake devices offline. As a last resort, the telephone help desk service can process passports for exceptions.

System ownership, data, and decision-making governance 

Q. How will the system be managed and who owns the data in it?

A. Each business will own and retain control of the data they enter in the DP system. Data management will be overseen by a Data Governance Group made up of representatives of all users. In addition to industry representatives, data specialists will be invited to join the group.

This group will have complete oversight of all aspects relating to data including what data is required to be shared via the digital passport, system security standards, GDPR, data quality and transparency and ensuring that data is fed back to growers in real-time as defined in the business case.

A consortium will be set up comprising the key parties represented on the current Leadership Group, plus AHDB. This is the same model (with different parties) which has worked successfully for the AHDB Recommended Lists for many years. Under this model, AHDB would be the legal entity owning the digital passport system and database on behalf of the consortium and industry.

Notes for editors:

• The business case sets out how the Digital Passport (Combinable Crops) system would operate, replacing the existing paper passport, which has been in use for more than 30 years. The electronic passport will, as now, be initiated by farmers with input from hauliers, before being transmitted to receivers.
• Switching to a single, industry wide digital passport as set out in the consultation is expected to: improve data integrity and security; provide scope for real-time assurance checks; reduce costs across the supply chain; and increase confidence and credibility to growers, buyers' customers, stakeholders, and regulators.
• The industry Leadership Group is chaired by AHDB Board member, Stephen Briggs. It meets weekly, and comprises:
  • Merchants and animal feed business – represented by the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC)
  • Farmers – represented by the National Farmers Union (NFU) and NFU Scotland
  • Receivers – represented by UK Flour Millers, the Maltsters Association and Seed Crushers and Oilseed Processors.
• For more information, visit Digital Passport. You can also:
  • Read the full business case
  • See a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions

Sent on behalf of the Digital Passport Leadership Group

Consultation on Combinable Crops Digital Passport begins Monday, 20 November 2023

An industry-wide consultation on the business case for implementing a digital passport for combinable crop movements will begin on Monday, 20 November 2023, closing on Friday, 2 February 2024.

The business case will set out how the Digital Passport (Combinable Crops) system would operate, replacing the existing paper passport, which has been in use for more than 30 years. The electronic passport will, as now, be initiated by farmers with input from hauliers, before being transmitted to receivers.

Switching to a single, industry-wide digital passport, as set out in the consultation, is expected to improve data integrity and security, provide scope for real-time assurance checks, reduce costs across the supply chain, and increase confidence and credibility to growers, buyers' customers, stakeholders and regulators.

Live updates of assurance status, prior to the vehicle leaving farms, are expected to reduce the risk of delay or rejection at the receiver’s site. The system will allow for data to flow simply and reliably between farmers, grain merchants and end users such as millers, maltsters and feed mills.

A spokesperson for the Leadership Group said that substantial time has been invested in developing a business case which addresses all the aspects of the new system, from governance to development and operation. 

They concluded:

“In essence this is a simple change, switching from the pieces of paper currently carried with each load across the country, to a digital equivalent in a robust, secure online system. Operationally it would be a marked change, and we are now keen to hear views from stakeholders across the supply chain on the proposal.”

The Leadership Group will be looking at the feedback received during the 11-week consultation to assess support for the business case and whether it meets industry requirements. 

The industry Leadership Group is chaired by AHDB Board member Stephen Briggs. It meets weekly, and comprises:

• Merchants and animal feed business – represented by the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC)
• Farmers – represented by the National Farmers Union (NFU) and NFU Scotland
• Receivers – represented by UK Flour Millers, the Maltsters Association and Seed Crushers and Oilseed Processors.

From farmers and hauliers to merchants and processors, the entire industry has been represented through a series of working groups tasked with developing the detail of how the Digital Passport will work, as well as designing a data governance framework.

During the consultation, industry representative bodies are inviting feedback on the business case through webinars and meetings. To engage with the consultation, please contact your representative trade association or contact AHDB via David.Eudall@ahdb.org.uk.

Visit our Digital Passport page for more information.

– Ends –

NOTES FOR EDITORS

• The Combinable Crops Digital Passport will, as now with paper documentation, be initiated by farmers with input from hauliers before onward transmission to receivers. There will be live updates of assurance status prior to the vehicle leaving farms, avoiding the risk of delay or rejection at the receiver’s site.

• The system will enable a multi-directional flow of data between farmers, grain merchants and end users such as millers, maltsters, and feed mills. This includes a commitment to the real-time return of information to those involved in the contractual chain.

• For the past year the Leadership Group has been working to address fundamental questions raised by the industry in 2022. Once the consultation closes, they will review all feedback and make a collective decision on how to proceed.

• Representatives from all parts of the cereals and oilseeds supply chain have been working together to create the business case, with support from experts at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

Following on from the previous communication dated 14 July, there has been further progress made by the Leadership Group, Development Group and Data Group.

The Leadership Group continues to work closely together to review the completion of the Development and Data Groups’ work. The Leadership Group has also been discussing how the longer-term ownership and funding structure of a DGP would operate so that all options are reviewed prior to making a recommendation in the business case. During August, the Leadership Group will meet on a fortnightly basis before resuming more regular meetings during September to review the final business case prior to industry consultation in the autumn.

Data Group (Matt Culley, NFU (National Farmers Union), Chair)

The Data Group met for a sixth time on Monday 31 July to finalise the structure for oversight of data governance in the DGP.

The Group agreed the final principles of Data Governance to be written into the business case. The outline of these principles is as follows:

• A Data Governance Group to set up from the point of DGP build commencing to oversee the process.
• This Group would have the remit to cover security, legal frameworks, data transfer and quality, ensuring data is as real-time as allows etc.
• The Group will be made up of representatives of all users of the passport.
• Methods of aggregating and anonymising data will be employed for data being used for food and feed safety and security purposes.
• GDPR considerations have been reviewed and retention periods agreed for personal data; users of a DGP will need to sign-up to a data sharing agreement to agree to these terms.
• This sign-up process will ensure users are agreeing to the key principles of sharing data through the supply chain and that data can be used in aggregate for food and feed safety data requests.

The outcomes of the Data Governance work have far more detail which will now be built into the final business case.

Data security was also discussed in the Data Group meeting. AHDB’s security architect is inputting into the project to ensure data will be secure. The Group is also in contact with the National Cyber Security Centre who have shared valuable insights into ransomware safety, bulk data handling, digital signatures and digital certificates. The DGP system operators will also sign-up to NCSC’s early warning tool which collates live threats/intelligence feeds to provide specific targeted warnings as and when threats develop.

If your company has any specific security requirements from the system, please contact Derek.Carless@ahdb.org.uk to discuss in more detail.

Development Group (George Mason, Heygates, Chair)

The Development Group focus over the past 3 weeks has been on the application of a DGP in ports. With the support of GAFTA, the Group met with superintendents, port operators and exporters. Following this, representatives of the Development Group from AHDB visited Immingham, New Holland and Tilbury ports. These visits have helped to inform the Development Group’s work on ensuring the system will meet the operational requirements of all aspects of the supply chain.

The focus now turns to completing the business case and ensuring that all the key points from the Development Group are included and thoroughly detailed.

Following on from the previous communication dated 30 June, there has been further progress made by the Leadership Group, Development Group and Data Group.

The Leadership Group continues to work closely together to review the outcomes of the Development and Data Groups, as well as aligning and supporting wider industry communications and webinars. The Leadership Group has been meeting on a weekly basis and will now revert to fortnightly meetings during the harvest period.

Data Group (Matt Culley, NFU (National Farmers Union), Chair)

The Data Group met for a fifth time on Monday 10 July to discuss the following key points:

• The Group signed off the proposal for how the system will manage the issues raised by multiple handling of grain through the supply chain.
• The Group signed off the proposal for data ownership and visibility (who enters, sees, and owns each piece of data).
• The main time of the agenda was taken by two points of discussion. The first on the provision and understanding of real-time data, and the second a continued discussion on the proposed structure for data governance and the make-up of a data governance group.
• With regards to real-time data, the Group agreed that there will be multiple definitions of this to begin with as the supply chain integrates DGP. For example, large intakes such as flour mills, and modern port facilities will have integrated technology for as close to real-time as possible. Whereas other intakes, ports, and most notably farm-owned central stores, will have a different ability to pass data on due to their technological capabilities. There is also the constraint on real-time stemming from testing requirements. For instance, malting barley moisture and specific weight are available quicker than germination testing. The Group were content that there will be multiple definitions, but that it should be a core principle of the system to return data in ‘real-time’ depending on what is technically possible at intake and in assurance checks.
• The Group spent time reviewing a presentation on the data governance framework and fed back on multiple areas for continual development.
• The Group focussed on further developing the structure of the data governance group to ensure all stakeholders are included as well as data experts who can advise the data owners in decision making processes.
• New aspects of the data governance structure relate to expanding the ‘triage’ questions needed to ensure that food and feed safety data requests meet the required level of confidence from the governance group.
• The data governance structure now includes detailed validation thresholds that would be required to be passed. These include the number of companies in each dataset and a maximum proportion of the sample that a company can account for.

The Data Group will meet again on 31 July to continue these discussions.

Development Group (George Mason, Heygates, Chair)

The Development Group work now focuses on the connectivity and usage solutions that are required for central stores and ports.

In recent days we have visited on-farm and commercial storage operations to understand more of how data is collated and transferred at these points of intake. Initial learnings are pointing to 3 specific ways of data collation; via integrated systems, excel spreadsheets and in a tiny minority of cases in ledger books.

To understand more on storekeepers' requirements, we have a live survey of grain intake points to develop a comprehensive view of current technological capabilities. The survey can be found here Digital Grain Passport - Software and Connectivity Survey (office.com) and will remain live until 21 July.

Once the survey is complete, this work will be finalised into a clearly understandable process that can be shared as part of the business case.

The questions around connectivity are hugely important and the project has made significant strides in finding workable solutions to lack of signal at collection and delivery points.

As work has progressed on storekeepers' requirements, focus has moved to port needs. A meeting with the Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA) and respective port and superintendent members has been organised for 18 July. This meeting will purely focus on ensuring there is a clear knowledge of the DGP proposal so far in GAFTA membership and allow for any questions and development requirements to be raised.

The work of the Development Group is nearing its conclusion, after which the content will be collated and presented to the DGP Leadership Group before being finalised in the business case.

Following on from previous communications dated 2 June and 13/14 June, there has been further progress made by the Development Group and Data Group.

Data Group (Matt Culley, NFU (National Farmers Union), Chair)

The Data Group held their latest meeting on 20 June, the group discussed the following key points.

Multiple handling of grain has been discussed and addressed as part of the Data Group's work and a solution has been agreed to allow a proposed system to operate effectively.

The group also reviewed an updated table on which parties enter, see and own the data. Whilst the group agreed in principle upon the ownership and visibility, there remains questions from some parts of the supply chain which need to be addressed before the document can be fully signed-off by the Group.

Data governance proposals were also covered in the meeting. The permissions for data use are split into four areas:

• The supply of data up and down the supply chain
• Aggregated and anonymised data for food and feed safety/security purposes
• Industry data analysis e.g., usage data
• Third-party data requests

The Group agreed that the permission for third party and industry usage will be off the table until a point where the transition process is underway or complete.

The Group had questions over the definition of data vs information, it was also requested that data processing should be cost neutral to the DGP to ensure the total cost of the system does not increase as data usage grows.

The key actions for the Data Group to work on centre on the data ownership/visibility and the governance. The next meeting is scheduled for 10 July.

Following the data group meeting on 20 June, individual discussions have been held within the oilseed and milling wheat supply chain to better define individual business requirements of a system to ensure it is applicable across all users. These discussions have focussed on the mechanism by which data can be shared from end-user to contractual counterparties and ensuring that data is delivered back to farm. Discussions are still ongoing on this area with the action for further proposals to be defined so that agreement can be reached on the most expeditious way to transfer data whilst also not infringing upon contractual data sharing obligations.

Development Group (George Mason, Heygates, Chair)

The Development Group met again on 27 June. This meeting discussed proposals for the transition period from paper to digital, the updates on recent conversations with assurance bodies and technology providers as well as covering the outstanding key questions needed to complete the business case.

Meetings with a range of technology providers have taken place to determine if there is a suitable ‘off the shelf’ solution for DGP already used in other industries and sectors i.e., aggregates or fresh produce. After exploring various options, it is now evident that a bespoke system will need to be developed and implemented.

The discussions with technology partners have yielded key understanding of how digital transfer of data is possible between devices both online and offline and this was presented to the Development Group. The three possible ways of connecting devices are via Bluetooth, QR codes and Near Field Communication (NFC) all of which are commonplace in modern data transfer systems.

Meetings with assurance bodies over recent weeks have been productive to ensure all requirements are met and open dialogue will continue. The Development Group chair and facilitator will remain in contact with assurance bodies as the business case is developed.

The Development Group members also discussed data visibility in the event of a food or feed safety rejection and agreed that where one of these occurs, the rejected status and the reason for the rejection will be visible via the DGP to any subsequent receiver.

The Group concluded by discussing delivery and despatch processes at TASCC stores and ports, and agreed that more work needs to be done to understand this area. A meeting is being arranged with GAFTA for port operators and superintendents.

If you are aware of any digital system that provides a two-way flow of delivery information that may be pertinent to learn from and support the DGP business case development, please contact Derek Carless (Derek.Carless@ahdb.org.uk) and David Eudall (David.Eudall@ahdb.org.uk).

Following on from the previous communication dated 2 June, please see as follows a key update on the progress of the DGP (Digital Grain Passport) project.

The Leadership Group, Data Group and Development Group continue to meet regularly and work closely together to progress the updating of a new business case for a DGP.

Headlines are as follows:

• The Leadership Group continue to drive the project forwards to ensure the business case is developed as quickly as possible. The business case will be ready in September for sign-off by the Leadership Group. This will then kick off a period of industry consultation in the autumn, the result of which feeds into a final decision to progress with levy funding by the AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board) Cereals and Oilseeds Sector Council in early December.
• In the time up until harvest, the Data Group and Development Group will finalise their efforts in answering the remaining questions that need to be addressed in the business case. During harvest, the business case will then be written. The development of the business case is still open and the Groups welcome input from industry to help ensure that all voices are heard, and concerns/questions are raised to build a robust and detailed business case.
• The Development Group Chair, with AHDB support staff, has been meeting with existing technology providers to ascertain how current systems work, what we can learn and how we could adapt existing systems to our needs. The Development Group will next meet formally on 20 June to discuss the outcome of these discussions as well as proposals for transitioning from paper to digital.
• The Data Group is focussing on data governance, looking at who owns the data, who can see what data when, and how that data is then used. This is leading to the creation of proposals for a data governance board that are due to be discussed at the next Data Group meeting on 20 June.
• Communications on the project will continue regularly up to and throughout harvest, to allow for an equitable distribution of information throughout the industry. If you would like any further information on the project or have specific questions or concerns, please contact Derek.Carless@ahdb.org.uk or David.Eudall@ahdb.org.uk who are supporting and facilitating the business case development.

Following on from the previous communication dated May 19th, there has been further progress made by the Development Group and Data Group.

Data Group (Matt Culley, NFU, Chair)

The Data Group met on Tuesday 30th May to continue their discussions on data usage, licensing and the principles of how data should be governed in a DGP.

The key topics discussed were:

• Signed off the Agrimetrics proposals for data governance framework at a headline level to be the agreed structure used for the DGP.
• The Group discussed and agreed the data ownership structure to be defined in the business case. This relates to the specifics on a passport of who enters, sees and owns each piece of data.
• Data permission scenarios were discussed in detail. These scenarios focussed on two specific permissions, the first being the passing of data back and forth through a DGP system to make the basic functionality happen e.g., for a passport to move along the chain to delivery point and for feedback of data to happen. The second point of permissions was related to the use of aggregated and anonymised data for use in food and feed security requirements. This matter is now being sent to the Leadership Group for discussion to ensure a cross-industry consensus is reached.
• The group were presented a set of slides relating to the context of their decisions around data governance and how a data governance group could be built. The Group inputted into further work required to create a formal governance group and agreed that the contextual decisions on data governance cannot be fully answered until the Leadership Group has given its view on the data permissions.
• The next meeting date was set for Tuesday June 20th.

Development Group (George Mason, Heygates, Chair)

The Development Group continues to make progress and representatives of the group are focussing on taking learnings from existing digital tools to further develop the DGP proposal. Actions since the last update are as follows:

• The group have put together a decision tree to capture all exceptions to the main simplified DGP process in terms of connection and smartphone availability. It includes whether there is connection at collection point or not, and whether the driver and/or the grower/storekeeper have a smartphone available or not.
• Met with Red Tractor and saw a demonstration of their online pdf passport functionality (available to growers in England & Wales) and their online delivery point rejection reporting process.
• Have had demonstrations from Kisan Hub, Podfather, Hectare Agritech to better understand existing digital systems.
• We are in the process of arranging meetings with SQC and TASCC to discuss the specifics of how the DGP would interact with those assurance schemes.
• We are meeting with Audacia, the company who built the DGP prototype demonstrated to industry in 2022, to discuss the new simplified DGP process, and the key outstanding questions requiring technological solutions.

If you are aware of any digital system that provides a two-way flow of delivery information that may be pertinent to learn from and support the DGP business case development, please contact Derek Carless (Derek.Carless@ahdb.org.uk) and David Eudall (David.Eudall@ahdb.org.uk).