03 April 2019

What happens with my data?

What happens with my data?

This is a question that we get asked often, and with good reason. Agricultural software users are seeing a landscape with many providers and dynamics that change almost by the day. Most Farm Management or Farm ERP Software is based around cloud-based storage, but it is often hard for users to discern what exactly happens with their data. In my role as Chief Strategy Officer, I help define Agworld’s research and development priorities, but I also want to make sure that our users understand exactly what we do and why we do this. We at Agworld are very transparent about how we operate, so in this article I’d like to explain what happens with your data on our platform.

Ownership

Agworld is not a subsidiary of, or controlled in any way by, a Big Ag company. These companies tend to collect and use data to enable them to tailor their input offerings according to this data; we know that this is increasingly becoming a concern with many people in the industry. Agworld is privately owned by a range of investors, none of whom have any access to our data, neither individual nor aggregated data sets. Our users own their data on our platform and only they have the final say in who they would like to give access to their data.

Agworld is transparent about their Ag data.

Use of data by third parties

Our philosophy is no data is as valuable as our customers’ businesses, and it is their right to choose what they do with their data. Some users might decide to give a third party access to their data for specific purposes, an example can be found in this blog post, that highlights a collaboration between Agworld, DPIRD and Elders. Users are able to auto-share their pest and weeds reports so that they can be collated and used in reporting that benefits every grower in the area. Our users always get asked whether they would like to share their data, if such an opportunity arises, and this is always obligation-free.

Data structure

One of the strengths of the Agworld platform lies in the ability to visualise data and create powerful reports for our users. The reason why the Agworld platform is so strong in this respect is because our data is standardized and highly structured. What this means is that our users are not able to ‘enter data in free form’ but rather select products etc from predefined dropdown menus. An example of how this powerful reporting of structured data helps our users, can be found in our recent blog post about the new Farm Bill. It also turns out that deep standardization, and the commitment to building the right user interface around it, creates a faster and easier user experience in the field and allows us to be the market leaders at bringing diverse datasets together in one place to help growers and their service providers make better decisions.

Agworld is transparent about their Ag data.

Our reporting capabilities, dashboards and API’s with like minded business are currently a big focus for our development teams; I look forward to elaborating on this later in the year.

I understand and appreciate that agricultural data is an important issue on many people’s minds. So, should you have any further questions about Agworld and how we work, I encourage you to ask these questions to your Agworld representative or get in contact with us. You can reach us at support@agworld.com and we look forward to addressing any questions or concerns.

Matt Powell

Matt Powell

CSO & Co-founder

Agworld’s Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Powell holds a Bachelor of Computer & Mathematical Sciences from the University of Western Australia and has been involved in advanced technologies with businesses such as SAS & Nokia as well as a number of his own successful startups before co-founding Agworld in 2009. Matt is passionate about using his experience as an entrepreneur and business leader in Technology and Agriculture to bridge this great divide in a way that genuinely empowers Growers, their Advisors and the entire value chain.

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