SPIDER: A Smart Portable Interactive Data Extraction and Reporting Tool for Organic Farmers

In Phase I Big Data in a Box Inc. (BDiB) proved the feasibility of developing a software application called Smart Portable Interactive Data Extraction and Reporting (SPIDER) to enable small and mid-size organic farmers to obtain certification and compliance. During the conduct of Phase I we discovered that data collection and record-keeping continues to be a pain point for farmers and producers. We also discovered that the data is vital to food supply chain participants. Organic small and mid-size farmers face this issue more acutely as they transition to or stay "certified organic." For Phase II we propose enhancements to the SPIDER application that capture and store receipts invoices and historical documents. We also plan to enhance voice- activated data extraction through AI. Further the application will support on-demand generation of requisite forms and data for submission to the certifying agencies. We will provide multi- tiered access to our SPIDER application to the farmers and certification agencies. Project objectives are 1) to develop an easy-to-use digital system that supports streamlined data collection and secure online storage for small and mid-size farmers' facility certification compliance; 2) to allow secured access to collected data for use by the certification agencies; 3) to conduct a study of adoption of our application and process via surveys and focus groups among organic certification agencies farmers and food processors; and 4) to build an AI-based Decision Support System to plan/predict farm operations such as crop rotation and planting. Testing will be carried out on local/regional farms.