Annual Conference Portfolio Priorities Taking Shape

Portfolio Update

Annual Conference Portfolio Priorities Taking Shape

By Ben Craker, Portfolio Manager

Despite our best laid plans and solid effort this year, it turns out that data interoperability is pretty complicated! So, while there will be some back patting and high-fives exchanged at the Annual Conference for completed work this November, the meeting is going to be plenty busy.

This became clear as I was putting together the quarterly Portfolio Update last month (you can always find the latest quarterly overview of each working group and past updates here on the wiki). A few working groups have run into hurdles and are therefore going to miss their target due dates. However, several seem to be on pace now to have their deliverables either slightly before or at the Annual Conference.

Here’s the short list of what to expect:

  1. Modus, one of our long-running working groups, is approaching the end and wrapping up its deliverables. The team has put together version 2 soil method codes, migrated the repository to GitHub, and now is finalizing a version 2 manure list. The subgroup working on the version 2 schema is currently working with the ADAPT Standard team, using Modus lab test data as the first use case to build out the observations and measurements model, tying together years of work in PAIL and now ISO 7673-2 with the ADAPT Standard work by leveraging Modus. If everything goes as planned this will be of huge value to the industry bringing all these different resources together under one umbrella. But the work is not over, look for a call for participation in a new working group focusing on creating a version 2 plant tissue/botanical methods list.
  2. The Weather Data API team is working on building out a sequence diagram to document how data is accessed to support development of the API and identify the end points needed. The team is also working to possibly be the second use case to leverage the ADAPT Standard observations and measurements framework once the Modus work is completed.
  3. The Field Boundary GNSS Accuracy team had hoped to get together in person at the TechHub Live Conference but unfortunately schedules did not align. They have reverted back to longer virtual meetings and are making some key decisions about how to proceed. There is tentative plan to model a “high fidelity” boundary to pass to the ADAPT team, but some key points about what use cases the effort will support and what level of detail is needed are being worked out.
  4. The Dairy Feed Standards working group is finalizing the documentation of the last two use cases that were identified as in scope. They are also reaching out to other organizations that have been active in the space to compare notes and hopefully leverage each other’s efforts. This is in addition to the MoU signed with ICAR earlier this year, so there is a lot of energy to try and align several different solutions that can be links in creating a chain for a more holistic approach to data movement for the industry.
  5. The Data Ethics and Stewardship team has reviewed the OpenTEAM Ag Data Use Documents and is providing feedback to OpenTEAM on suggested changes or clarifications that would be important for AgGateway members. The team is also planning to develop some best practices and topics to consider for companies reviewing their privacy plans and determining what capabilities they may want to implement when developing a new system or making a major upgrade, focusing on privacy by design principles with the concept of creating informed consent at the heart of the work. The goal is to create a document the industry can reference with best practices, topics to think through, and links to other tools that provide added detail or context like the OpenTEAM Documents.
  6. The Entity Identification Rules group had also hoped to meet in person to make progress on their deliverables, but schedules would not align. The group has set regular meetings and is working on the initial tasks of documenting current business processes and rules used by participants for entity lookup and creation to make sure their group proceeds from a point of common understanding.

I should note that there were several working groups that delayed launching after additional discussions on the planned topics and scope. As a result, we are hosting meetups to discuss the issues and zero in on the deliverables needed. Notifications for meetups to discuss updating the mix ticket work and creating a harmonized contract message will be sent out prior to the Conference, so watch for invitations in your email inbox.

As usual if you have any questions on the activities of any of these working groups, an idea for a new group, or want to get engaged feel free to contact me (ben.craker@aggteway.org), or sign up for a working group here.