Meet Our Global Partners
BrightAnimal is an outward-looking project with 13 international partners all dedicated to providing a global approach to the development and implementation of precision livestock techniques.
The BrightAnimal partners are:
| AIM UK : for more than 21 years AIM UK has provided an authoritative, non-commercial, technical and standards-based lead in championing the effective and appropriate use of AIDC and RFID in all sectors of life: industry, commerce, leisure and personal security. AIM UK embraces all aspects of AIDC from technical and industrial issues, through market developments, international standards and regulations to socio-economic issues influencing the development and up-take of RFID, including privacy and other public concerns. It has strong links with the government Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with which it has collaborated on a number of projects. AIM UK has also been involved in a number of EU-funded projects including FoodTrace and the PETER project, both concerned with traceability in the food supply chain, and CASAGRAS, a project concerned with global RFID standardisation. |
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Andrew Callaway has more than 35 years experience in journalism, public relations and marketing communications, working in the both the private and public sectors and covering a wide industrial and commercial spectrum. During the last 12 years he has also worked for AIM UK helping to promote the uptake and understanding of AIDC technologies. He has been particularly involved in major healthcare and food traceability initiatives with responsibility for event organisation, communications between project partners and dissemination. www.aimuk.org/ |
| FOODREG TECHNOLOGY: FoodReg is a leading provider of total traceability for food and agriculture-based industries – assisting businesses and authorities in the implementation and verification of best practice compliance. Its goal is to increase the profitability of food businesses while supporting all stakeholders worldwide who wish to improve food safety, enhance sustainable production and provide consumers with more choices. FoodReg develops and deploys information technology solutions and services which provide automated controls, record-keeping and traceability and offers professional expertise in best practice implementation. It has headquarters in Barcelona and operational units in Europe and Asia. |
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Heiner Lehr is an expert in electronic food information and traceability systems; he has more than ten years of international IT experience and is technical director of FoodReg, the international technical supervisor for the Malaysian Food Information and Traceability System and the leader of Enterprise Applications in the EU project TRACE (IP). www.foodreg.com/ |
| CHINESE ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (CAAS) : The Institute of Quality Standards and Testing Technology for Agricultural Products (IQSTAP) at CAAS was established in 2003. It is the only specialist institute in China with standards and testing technologies with the quality and safety of agri-products as its target research fields. Its main research activities cover food safety, risk analysis, test techniques and standards for agricultural products. Relevant research projects include:
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| Zhihua Ye is the DG of IQSTAP. He is vice president of the board of directors of the China Society of Plant Protection and the Entomology Society of China. In addition, he is secretary general of the National Expert Committee of Risk Assessment on Quality and Safety for Agri-products. He has served on the editorial boards of a number of professional journals and magazines and on the steering committees of several national and international research programmes. www.caas.net.cn | |
| BITLAND ENTERPRISE (BIT) : The mission of Faroe Islands-based Bitland Enterprise is to stimulate and facilitate innovation and internationalisation.Its core skills are based on solid experience – especially within strategic planning, innovation processes, business transformation and project management. BIT also incorporates office facilitation and an incubation centre and enables direct investment into technology projects via seed capital or other investment facilities. BIT has developed an Innovation Process Management System which reduces the time spent from invention to the exploitation of new ideas and at the same time enhance the quality of the process. In 2004 BIT initiated a feasibility study and worked on a nationwide plan to enable the digital transfer of all traceability data in the Faroese fishing industry between the various links in the value chain. BIT has been involved in several EU projects both as co-ordinator and work package leader. |
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Olavur Gregersen has since 1993 helped found companies in the textile, telecom, ICT, education, tourism, renewable energy and food sectors. He has several years experience in project management within innovation-related activities and has co-ordinated two FP6 applications and three FP7 proposals. He has served in management and board positions with several innovative companies and is general manager of Bitland Enterprise. www.thebitland.com/ Katrin Jakobsen is project administrator for Bitland Enterprise. |
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Katrin Jakobsen is project administrator for Bitland Enterprise. |
| NOFIMA MARKET (NOFIMA) : Nofima isa new fusion of all Norwegian food research institutes and covers all food sectors and links in the value chain. Nofima Market carries out research and development work related to economics, marketing, logistics, rationalisation and traceability of food products. The research group involved in BrightAnimal has extensive international experience gained from food sector projects. These include TraceFish, in which standards for traceability in the seafood sector were developed, and Seafood Plus in which consumer perceptions, quality, traceability and information logistics in the seafood industry were examined. Nofima Market also leads the traceability group in the TRACE project and has a central role in various international standardisation activities related to traceability. |
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Petter Olsen is a senior researcher at Nofima Market and associate professor at the University of Tromsoe. He has initiated, co-ordinated and participated in numerous traceability projects including development of generic software tools for internal traceability. He was co-ordinator of the EU’s TraceFish project and also co-ordinates the traceability systems group for the TRACE project. In addition, he was responsible for the development and co-ordination of the TraceFood Framework which includes good practice guides and the TraceCore XML |
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Kine Mari Karlsen joined Nofima Market as a researcher in 2004 having previously worked with the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries. Has several years practical and academic experience of traceability in the food industry and is much involved with process mapping in food supply chains, standardised methods and chain traceability implementation. www.nofima.no/ |
| AALBORG UNIVERSITY, DENMARK: Aalborg University (AAU) covers five faculties and has over 14,000 students, with more than 200 receiving PhD degrees in 2010. Research related to agriculture, fish and food has a long tradition and in 2009 the Faculty of Engineering, Science and Medicine initiated an intensification and co-ordination of these activities through a centre initiative. The centre for "Food, People and Design" is a new research platform for AAU's activities related to the food sector. Studies for food networks - including public health issues, traceability issues, food safety issues and food design are important research areas. Different settings in which food is processed and consumed are subject to research from the socio-technical, sociological and managerial perspectives. The research group has carried out projects on traceability and communications systems in the food sector, into ethical traceability and in supply chain learning with special emphasis on sustainability and eco-challenges. | |
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Thorkild Nielsen is an Associate Professor at AAU, Copenhagen Institute of Technology, Department of Development and Planning. www.aau.dk |
| ESTONIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES (EMU): In addition to academic activities EMU is a centre for research and development in agriculture, forestry, animal science, veterinary science, rural life and economy, food science, biodiversity, nature protection, renewable natural resources and environmentally friendly technologies. It conducts research in many areas relating to animal husbandry and veterinary care. The University participates in numerous international research projects and the BrightAnimal research group brings experience from relevant animal welfare projects, notably from Nordic countries. Some of the most recent projects have been concerned with the automatic registration of environmental factors, automatic monitoring of cattle health and promoting quality assurance in animal welfare. |
| Eugen Kokin holds a Dsc (Eng) from the Estonian Agricultural University and is the author of many papers on technological and engineering processes in agriculture. Since 2000 he has been a member of the e-journal editorial board of the World Agriculture Engineering Society, and is also a member of the Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientists. www.emu.ee/ | |
| CONSUMER GOODS COUNCIL OF SOUTH AFRICA (CGCSA) : the CGCSA represents more than 10,000 companies in South Africa and was formed in 2002 by the merger of GS1 South Africa, the Grocery Manufacturers’ Association and ECR South Africa. Since 2006 it has also included the Food Safety Initiative. The CGCSA aims to give on behalf of its members a single voice to government and other key bodies on all relevant industry, non-competitive, legal and regulatory affairs. Through GS1 it is part of an organisation dedicated to the design and implementation of global standards to improve efficiency in global supply chains. The CGCSA is generally mandated to deal with best practices, standards, food safety, crime prevention and legal and regulatory issues in the FMCG industry. Its key objective is to assist and facilitate the enhancement of supply chain efficiencies in South Africa’s FMCG industry. |
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Gwynne Foster has wide experience in traceability and supply chain information systems. She has facilitated the SA Fresh Produce Traceability Project since its inception in 2000, the coverage of which ranges from aquaculture to the meat industry. She also conducted a study on the impact of EU food and traceability regulations on small-scale farmers in South Africa. She has also contributed to the defining of traceability systems models for fruit supply chains and is currently consolidating the findings of traceability studies in eight African and Asian countries. Gwynne Foster is also a member of the Department of Agriculture Food Safety Forum and provides a traceability consultancy to Tanzania mainly focused on SMEs. www.cgcsa.co.za/ |
| KASETSART UNIVERSITY (KU) : Kasetsart University is a public university in Thailand established in 1945. It was established as an agricultural university and although it has expanded to cover a wide range of disciplines, agriculture remains one of its strongest areas. KU now has 457 curriculums and more than 30,000 students. |
| Bordin Rassameethes is an assistant professor in the university’s Operations Management Department, Faculty of Business Administration. In addition to lecturing, he has extensive experience in research, development and implementation of government strategies and policies in a wide range of fields. These include organic agriculture, traceability for food safety alert systems, ICT for economic and social development in rural areas, marketing for agricultural products, logistics and supply chain management. This and other work has involved collaboration with many government departments, NGOs, private enterprises and the general public on agriculture-related issues. www.ku.ac.th/ | |
| DEPARTMENT OF VETERINARY SERVICES (DVS) : the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) in Malaysia is committed to the growth of a sound animal industry to supply quality and safe food from animal products for national consumption and export through the provision of quality veterinary services. Among its objectives are : to prevent, control and eradicate animal and zoonotic diseases; to ensure that foods of animal origin are clean, wholesome and fit for human consumption; to promote the growth and development of the animal feed industry; to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of all animals. |
| Kum Wah Chang is a senior research officer with the DVS. In 2006 he played a key role in the Malaysian Animal Traceability system (MATs) project which, after a study of livestock traceability systems in Australia recommended the adoption of RFID for the traceability of livestock from birth/import to death/slaughter. Kum Wah Chang was also involved with the development of a Malaysian Food and Information Traceability system (M-FIT), an initiative that suggested that barcoded tags be used for meat products from the abattoir to the retail shelf. www.dvs.gov.my/ | |
| BRAZILIAN CORPORATION OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH – BEEF CATTLE (EMBRAPA): The EMBRAPA mission is to provide feasible solutions for the sustainable development of Brazilian agribusiness through knowledge and technology generation and transfer. Since 1973 it has introduced around 9,000 technologies to the agriculture sector and helped reduce production costs while increasing the food offer. At the same time it has contributed to the conservation of natural resources and the environment and reduced Brazil’s dependence on external technologies, basic products and genetic materials. Through 37 research centres, three service centres and 11 central divisions EMBRAPA has a presence in almost every Brazilian state. It has 8,619 employees of which 2,221 are researchers – 45% of which hold master’s degrees and 53% doctoral degrees. Fifty researchers work in the organisation’s beef cattle research unit with the priority of increasing production and efficiency and meeting consumer demands for higher quality levels. www.embrapa.br/ |
| Pedro Paulo Pires, doctor of veterinary science, is EMBRAPA representative in the BrightAnimal project. | |
| SOUTH AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (SARDI) : SARDI is a world-class research and development institute delivering innovation to enhance the food, fibre and bioscience industries and living environmental systems in southern Australia. As the SA Government’s principal research and development capability, science programmes embrace industry and community needs aligned to South Australia’s strategic plan and ten year vision for science, technology and innovation. SARDI has 16 advanced research facilities across the state with research platforms aimed at growing economic prosperity; sustaining natural resources; improving wellbeing; fostering creativity. |
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Thomas Banhazi : between 1995 and 2005 Associate Professor Thomas Banhazi obtained 20 competitive project grants with a combined value of around 2.5 million dollars. He obtained 12 grants from Australian Pork Limited, seven of which projects were related to precision livestock farming. His PLF-related work included the development of an environmental monitoring system, feed-intake sensor, image-based weighing system and predictive equations for the concentration and emission of airborne pollutants in/from piggery buildings to ensure their control. Thomas Banhazi has published nearly 100 journal and international conference papers. He is president of the Australian Agricultural Engineering Society and is the funding member of the Australian Precision Livestock Farming Support Group. He is also currently an honorary associate professor at the University of Kaposvar, Hungary. A/Prof.Banhazi now works at the University of Southern Queensland but maintains close links with SARDI. www.sardi.sa.gov/ and www.usq.edu.au |
The following individuals and institutions have also agreed to act as EU/international advisors on the project: