Innovative software designed in Northern Ireland to drive efficiency in the local pig industry has been shortlisted for a prestigious award recognising the UK’s top digital pioneers.

PiGIS was jointly developed by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).

The highly innovative online tool is used by farmers, industry and pork processors to assess and benchmark the carcass quality of pigs on a real-time basis.

It is available to all pig producers and processors in the Northern Ireland pig industry to help them make informed management decisions.

The system was first launched over 10 years ago but has undergone several upgrades in response to industry needs.

The most recent enhancement was deployed two months ago and provides processing plants with a wider toolset to assess their supply base, and allowing the producers greater ability to interrogate their own data.

All analysis is provided in both graphical and tabular form to enable simple and effective interpretation, and as automated text message and email reports.

PiGIS is now universally accepted as an essential tool within the pig industry to assist all sections of the supply chain to achieve their full potential in terms of pig carcass quality.

Digital Leaders 100 List

The project has been shortlisted to the Digital Leaders 100 List 2020.

The awards celebrate the best digital transformation projects in the UK with the public vote to decide on the winner now underway.

The top places in the list and the sector winners will be announced at an awards dinner on October 15 in Leeds as part of Digital Leaders Week.