A transdisciplinary approach supporting the implementation of a big data project in livestock production: an example from the Swiss pig production industry

Abstract

Big Data approaches offer potential benefits for improving animal health, but they have not been broadly implemented in livestock production systems. Privacy issues, the large number of stakeholders, and the competitive environment all make data sharing, and integration a challenge in livestock production systems. The Swiss pig production industry illustrates these and other Big Data issues. It is a highly decentralized and fragmented complex network made up of a large number of small independent actors collecting a large amount of heterogeneous data. Transdisciplinary approaches hold promise for overcoming some of the barriers to implementing Big Data approaches in livestock production systems. The purpose of our paper is to describe the use of a transdisciplinary approach in a Big Data research project in the Swiss pig industry. We provide a brief overview of the research project named “Pig Data,” describing the structure of the project, the tools developed for collaboration and knowledge transfer, the data received, and some of the challenges. Our experience provides insight and direction for researchers looking to use similar approaches in livestock production system research.