Episode #21
Ellen Moorehead is ubloquity’s award winning agri tech manager. A farmer herself she knows first hand how bureaucratic processes and paperwork add complexity and cost when seeking to move animals across borders.
In her role at ubloquity and as the coordinator of a new consortium – TETA – she is helping lead the way by testing innovative processes, and introducing blockchain-enabled smart technology.
Teta Consortium
One such scheme being piloted is at the Rhug Estate in Wales – where alongside The Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT) – Ellen is creating a remote witness app. The technology seeks to reduce the burden on farmers, processors and abattoirs, and enable vets – who are a scarce resource – to remotely and digitally audit and sign off compliance.
SPEAKERS
Dom Burch and Ellen Moorehead.
Dom Burch:
Welcome back to the ubloquity podcast with the Dom Burch. This is the podcast where we get to speak to thought leaders and experts from across the industry and I’m absolutely delighted to welcome back on to the podcast Ellen Moorehead. Now, Ellen is the agri tech manager here at ubloquity,recently married. So change of names the last time you’ll have heard her. She’ll have been Ellen Marks. Ellen, welcome to the podcast.
Ellen Moorehead:
Hi Dom. Thanks very much for having me.
Dom Burch:
So let’s start just give us a little bit of background to you then. So, you work for ubloquity. But what was your route into getting involved in blockchain and technology?
Ellen Moorehead:
My route into blockchain is probably not a traditional route in the blockchain, like some others,especially within the technology industry, I actually studied agricultural technology at Queen’s University Belfast alongside Cafre, the College of Agriculture and Food and Rural enterprise. And so basically, it was a degree in agriculture. I come from a very strong farming background. And I’ve always been very much so interested in agriculture and farming. Never did, I think I would see myself in a technology role, nevermind blockchain. So coming into a blockchain kind of working environment has been a really steep learning curve for me, but one that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed so far.
Dom Burch:
And it’s fair to say that in your role, what you’re trying to do often is weave the best of technology, but also redesign processes so that farmers, suppliers, food manufacturers or whatever, can actually start to move their goods in a way that’s frictionless. Just give us a bit of a sense of you know, what the day job looks like? Maybe give us an example of some of the work you’ve been up to over the last year or two.
Ellen Moorehead:
Yeah, exactly. I suppose the way I see my role is that I’m kind of the bridge between the really techie kind of stuff, and getting that into a practical working environment where people can actually make use of that technology on the ground. So from my perspective,I’m looking at that from an agricultural industry, farm and supply chains, food products.And I think that’s something that’s really prevalent in today’s UK industry wide when we’re thinking about the movement of goods and imports,exports, and how we kind of get through all this kind of stuff at the minute. So the kind of day job for me, is that we’re so you mentioned there at the start of the podcast that I also helped coordinate a newly formed Consortium, which is TETA, which stands for Technology Enabled Trading Alliance. And what we’re trying to do within this consortium, is help people in various stages of the supply chain, move their goods into and out of the country. The day job for me is looking at one specific example could be farmers trying to export meat products out of the country that previously were high premium products, and sent out as chilled goods. However, because of the delays and things that they’re facing now, this things are now sent out as frozen or non premium products. So they’re not even making a margin on them anymore. It’s merely just to retain customers. So we’re looking at how we can help within supply chains using technologies and our blockchain using all of this information that we can gather to help export goods out of the country,and vice versa, we also have to check imports coming into the country too. This isn’t just for food products, we’re thinking about live animals moving into and out of the country as well. It can be applied to basically anything.So from my perspective, I’m looking at it with my farmer hat on, I’m thinking, how can I sell my breeding animals? And how can I get my animals exported out of the country with all of this rigorous paperwork that we’re kind of currently going through at the minute. So that’s kind of the basics of what the day job looks like at the minute.
Dom Burch:
And then let’s give an example then. So because you’re a farmer, yourself, you and your sister farm, Rare Breed sheep, they’re in Northern Ireland and part of your business will be moving those sheep to the Republic of Ireland, which crosses a border,but you know, people who understand the geography there’s no checkpoints at those borders.So there’s no unlike, say, Dover Calais, you’re not actually having to go through sort of a port of entry or exit or checkpoint. So just describe how regulations mean that you know,what you have to actually go do and how might technology make that more seamless in the future.
Ellen Moorehead:
So our home we have pedigree sheep and commercial sheep but we also have cattle as well and it is more so on our cows that we’re facing a lot of extreme paperwork and things like that too. So movement of live animals into the south of Ireland. So you’re right there is no border control points if you like there are no ports. So it’s a border but the geography of it is that we don’t get stopped at those borders. So for us to move I live animals to the Republic of Ireland for talk’s sake, our cows we are, there’s huge expenditure with it. So we have to isolate cows on our phone for28 days, we have to fill in rigorous amounts of paperwork,so we have to do extra blood tests, then we have to Bvd sample we have to do all of these kinds of extra things,which all accumulates and we have to have veterinary checks done prior to the animals leaving the farm 24 hours prior to the animals leaving the farm.And all of this added paperwork and things, it all adds up. And last year it costs us probably around £115 per head to get our animals moved to the south of Ireland, so the other farmers can buy in these animals for breeding purposes, for genetics,and so on and so on. There’s a lot of adverse realities that are happening an on the ground for farmers to be able to basically do their day jobs. And that’s kind of where the perspective I look at these things. Well, how can we use technology to enable these farmers to do these things a lot easier, and a lot more seamlessly? And why do we need a vet to come out 24 hours prior to that animal leaving? When that Vet has probably seen that animal at many points within its lifetime? Or why did these animals have to be isolated for28 days, although they’ve lived on this farm their entire life?So it’s asking those questions,what is practical? And what is realistic? And how can we use technology to enhance this process and make it easier for farmers and buyers?
Dom Burch:
And and it’s understandable, isn’t it? All these checks and balances are there for a reason? But I suppose if it’s there to, you know, well as a risk based system, I guess, isn’t it and as a way of authenticating that something really is what it is and that when it moves that it you know it has it sort of pet passport or its cow number as it will be. Now ubloquity actually has its roots in agriculture,doesn’t it? So your first job was sort of predates ubloquity? And that was tagging animals with these GPS tags. Just talk us through that, because that was probably the start point,wasn’t it? Where ubloquity started to think about how can it use different types of science and technology, and then store that information on the blockchain, so that, if you like the truth can carry all the way along that supply chain.
Ellen Moorehead:
Prior to ubloquity’s formation. And I worked alongside a number of the ubloquity founders in a different company where we tagged animals based here in Northern Ireland, specifically on beef farms, we tagged those animals with EID, and DNA sampling tags, the tags were then linked to Geo locations of a farm. And any interaction that was then had with that tag, we recorded all of the information associated with that animal onto our blockchain. So that’s kind of where our roots were, then when ubloquity was founded obviously, this was something that we were always very, very passionate about, and understanding the proof of origin and guaranteeing and all of that authentic information that goes alongside that animal. So yeah, our roots were very much so agriculturally based. And I suppose that’s where we’re always looking to get back to. And that’s why we’re always kind of focused on too. Supply chains are so diverse as well, that we get into different things and be it spices, be it any other food product. And initially it was livestock, but like I say supply chains, across the board are facing a lot of these kinds of added paperwork and added checks and added administration, I suppose. Although it was very much to agriculture, I think this is a problem across supply chains.
Dom Burch:
I guess that starting point of if you can create a digital twin of a cow in a field with a GPS tag that then led did it to actually working alongside Fujitsu with Atamai and just imagining that that waggon or that truck or that consignment was also a digital twin, and as long as you could securely attach your tag to it effectively, then you had then,you know, footprint, you had a sort of, you know, dotted line of where that product was at any point.
Ellen Moorehead:
Yeah exactly. And that’s sort of the principles of it. If we’re tracking a cow, why can we not track a trailer? And why can we not track these other things? So I think that was kind of the brainstorming side of it. And that’s how we kind of got into working with Fujitsu. And how Atamai Freight kind of came about and when we were thinking about it, and how we tried to thought about the tracking and tracing of those trucks crossing borders with the product on the back of it, and all of the documentation and so on and so on that would need to go with that consignment. And I suppose that’s how that got us into that frame of mind of thinking about how we track and trace basically anything and how we create a digital twin of anything, I suppose.
Dom Burch:
And you were involved with Finnebrogue who are one of the sort of early pilot partners of Atamai, just talk through that process then. So you go into a food manufacturer in Northern Ireland. And I guess what you’re having to do at first is just I guess, capture the sort of analogue process to see where the pinch points are. And then when you layer on top,this sort of technological solution, how they might sort of gain those efficiencies, just explain sort of how you went about that. I presume you had spent a few days walking around warehouses and with a clipboard,watching what people were up to?
Ellen Moorehead:
Yeah, exactly. Finnebrogue are fantastic. In the initial stages of the pilot with Atamai Freight, I spent a lot of time with the guys down at Finnebrogue. Initially, it was going in and understanding their processes and what do they do and what is their day to day job look like? I suppose in terms of intake of goods,processing them goods, how do they store them? How did they get out the other end and their entire process, I suppose, is what I wanted to understand initially. And in doing so, and asking those questions and kind of following in their footsteps for a couple of days. You soon realised where their pains were and where the problems were. How we could assist in that I suppose, and some of the things that were very prevalent were that understanding where their consignments were at any point in time when they were going to be arriving and the visibility of their loads on route in, and I suppose the guarantee or the knowing that their goods have the potential to transit a border without being subjected to rigorous investigations, I suppose, because of all of this insights that the ports are also seeing of where their consignments were, who’d opened the lorry, who had sealed the lorry when it had left the facilities and things like that,you know, I suppose that all really, really helped in doing so, that had a knock on effect then. So when goods were arriving at Finnebrogue, they could then forward plan in terms of their internal processes, be it who they had on at intake,when people were taking their breaks, internal planning of what food products they were going to manufacture that day,based on their incoming consignments. And I suppose it was really understanding their processes, and where we could fit in to help with that. I think that’s the most important thing to understand, where people are having their pains and where they’re having their problems, and adapting our technology and adopting and our understanding to say, well, how can we address that problem? And how can we provide a solution.
Dom Burch:
Now, somebody who’s a farmer, and comes from that kind for it?of agriculture background, I bet you would never have guessed that you’d have been awarded young IT professional of the year. Tell us a bit about that,and what it’s like being in that kind of relatively small group, I would imagine of young women leaders who are specialising in the IT sector and and some of the opportunities that have arisen on the back of it.
Ellen Moorehead:
Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, Dom,technology is something that was never at the forefront of my mind. And I never thought I would see myself in a technology sort of role ever. Prior to joining ubloquity, or meeting any of the co founders at that time, I was absolutely useless with technology to the point where I was nearly afraid to use my computer. And so I would say winning the young IT professional of the year, and was a shock, because technology is not my my Forerunner if you like, but I would say I’ve adapted really well. And I picked up a lot of things I’ve learned so much, within the technology industry, looking back on it, and I, I think it’s a fantastic opportunity, I’ve got to learn something new, I’ve got to do something different.I’ve kind of got to bring that technology back into my grassroots, which is very much so agriculture. And the opportunities that have came from that have just been phenomenal. I’ve been endless and the people that I’ve met and the network that I’ve created,and it’s been absolutely fantastic. And that’s with no thanks to everybody else that I’m working with as well. They bring me into conversations, and they introduce me to people,which is absolutely fantastic.For me as a young person within the industry that probably doesn’t have many connections in the technology industry. So that has been a really, really good thing for me too. And I would say that I’m probably a lot more open minded now. Like you say I’m kind of a niche working within these industries as well.And not coming from a technology background as well. I’d be more open minded that people can adopt and people can change to different working environments,as long as there’s an interest there. And there’s want to do something I suppose.
Dom Burch:
And you also got to be in the presence, if not meet personally, some really, really amazing women leaders. Just tell us a little bit about that.
Ellen Moorehead:
Oh, I absolutely did. Yes. So in and around the [Good Friday] agreement 25 events that were happening here in Northern Ireland, there are a number of fantastic speakers that came to a woman and business event, which was international voices of leadership. So I had the absolute pleasure of listening to Hillary Clinton, Mary McAleese, Cherie Blair, and so many others, Sarah Friar, and a lot of other different entrepreneurs that are working within the industry and have done so much with their careers.It was absolutely fantastic for me as a young person to hear their journeys, their successes,their failures, and their advice. It was an absolutely fantastic event to attend. I suppose looking back on it, now,for me to give advice to anybody else, it would be very much so to take every opportunity that’s probably presented to you, and ask as many questions as you can. I’d say people in ubloquity think I’m the nosiest person ever, because I never stop asking questions. And I’m ringing people up and asking questions and things, you know, but I think it’s good to be curious. And it’s good to have that want to know more information.
Dom Burch:
And let’s just wheel back round to where we started then. So TETA, there’s this new consortium that I guess you’ve helped spearhead, you know, and it’s got a number of different partners involved, bringing sort of technology and looking at how do traders whether they’re bringing food into the country or trying to export their products out, start to use different types of technologies and different types of science and even IoT devices to create, I guess, an ecosystem of trust, right? To be able to validate things and hold that information in such a way that it means you can start to I don’t know free up time of people like vets, as you were saying earlier. Just give us an example then of I don’t know, there’s a meat manufacturers say in Wales,right, and they’re trying to export their meat. How many interventions would that typically have from somebody having to come into the what the farm and the abattoir and then check the goods at the border? Just talk us through some of that, something like that.
Ellen Moorehead:
Yeah, exactly. And I suppose that’s a good example to start with. And for the likes of somebody trying to export meat products, there are a number of vet interventions that they would have to have on multiple different points within the supply chain. So the likes of using this kind of technology that the TETA consortium are or bringing to the table, that takes away a lot of those same vet interventions. And the cost associated with it. That we’re thinking about using IoT devices, we’re talking about using remote witnessing. We’re talking about using mass spectrometry sampling and things like that, too. And there’s so much different technology that we bring together as a consortium that has one has one basic solution to the entire supply chain. Using that technology, I suppose, is quite straightforward. And it’s quite simple. I would also say that is something that will probably be adopted a lot more within the industry, as we move forward.Technology is something that is so prevalent, in a lot of industries now that the adoption of technology is a lot easier, and a lot more streamlined than it would have been 10 years ago.And so I don’t think it’s something that we should be afraid of, I think it’s definitely something that we should be embracing industry wide. That technology can be implemented at any stage within the supply chain, be that right at the grassroots with the farmers to within the abbatoirs within the food business operators within processors, it could be within the haulage aspect of it like the Atamai Freight project, it could be right to the other end of the retailers or the consumers. So it can be implemented the whole way along the supply chain at any point on every point but link up to provide the full story, I suppose.
Dom Burch:
And it’s really important, isn’t it? because there’ll be people listening who might have had their fingers burnt by big technology projects in the past? And as soon as you start mentioning things like blockchain and IoT devices, and what was the spectrometry one? I can’t even say that, you know,people might just be a little bit resistant. But it sounds like when they’ve got somebody like yourself who’s kind of pretty grounded and comes from a farming background, it’s sort of like a no nonsense approach, is there a better way to do the stuff that we’re already doing,that’s going to be simpler, and,you know, frankly, save everybody a bit of money.
Ellen Moorehead:
And that is very much so our approach to it.It needs to be something that is better, simpler, faster, and is going to save money in the long run. There’s no point trying to implement something that’s actually going to take more time and be a lot more training and cause more hassle and cost a lot more money within the supply chain. Because what’s the point of adopting that technology if it’s not going to streamline the process anymore. So like I say,there’s a vet shortage within the country and vets are being asked to do a lot more checks within the supply chains, and maybe four and five times throughout one product. So the likes of this technology that can enable a vet to maybe remote witness something, it can remotely digitally signature against something you know, and that’s the thing, too, is making it easier for everybody within the supply chain and taking some of the cost out of it as well. And this isn’t even just going to help the farmers on the ground or the arbitrage. It’s going to go right through the supply chain and help the consumer at the other end.
Dom Burch:
Well, Ellen, listen, we could talk all day. But we squeezed a lot in I think in 20minutes, nonetheless, but it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on to the podcast. But for the meantime, Ellen Moorehead, who’s the ubloquity agri tech manager and also the consortium, lead and coordinator for TETA.Thank you so much for coming on.
Ellen Moorehead:
Thanks very much done.
