Guidelines for governance of data sharing in agri-food networks

Big Data is becoming a new asset in the agri-food sector including enterprise data from operational systems, sensor data, farm equipment data, etc. Recently, Big Data applications are being implemented to improve farm and chain performance in agri-food networks. Still, many companies are refraining from sharing data because of fear of governance issues such as data insecurity, or lack of privacy or liability, among others. To overcome such barriers for developments with Big Data, this paper aims at: 1) analysing governance issues in agri-food networks, and 2) introducing a set of guidelines for data-sharing. Based on a literature review, a framework for analysing agri-food networks was developed, with internal governance factors (efficiency, effectiveness, inclusiveness, legitimacy & accountability, credibility and transparency) and external governance factors (political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors). The framework contributes to development of a set of draft guidelines. Accordingly, for each factor, the guidelines address issues, best practices and lessons learned from other projects and initiatives. The approach developed in this paper creates a baseline for possible future developments of Big data in terms of 1) upscaling of the guidelines at a global level, 2) refining and fine-tuning of the guidelines for context specific agri-food networks, and 3) contributing to solving governance challenges in data sharing. In the future, the relevance of Big Data in the agri-food domain is expected to increase, and so are the contributions of this approach.