Australian Agricultural Data Exchange - Building a Trusted Data Exchange for Agriculture
A vision, practical roadmap and data sharing governance to establish a trusted data exchange for the agriculture industry in Australia. Alongside Meat and Live Stock Australia, Fisheries Research Development Corporation, CSIRO, Charles Sturt University and Australian Wool Innovation.
The Challenge
Australia’s agriculture sector lacked a trusted, industry-wide capability for data sharing, governance, and a foundation for AI-enabled innovation.
The Approach
The initiative brought together a wide mix of stakeholders to align perspectives around a shared vision of a data exchange and a practical roadmap to commercialisation. Respect and inclusivity sat at the centre of the process, creating the conditions for collaboration and trust.
Through a series of workshops, the business model, product strategy and value proposition for the data exchange were shaped, turning diverse perspectives into a plan that everyone could stand behind. At the same time, the foundations for cross-industry collaboration were laid through governance and capability development. Pilot projects across research and industry tested and proved the approach. As momentum grew and the platform matured, new AI initiatives were launched to build on that progress and demonstrate future possibilities.
"The AADX has given us a way to work across RDC boundaries with a shared vision.” - AADX funder
The Outcome
Lead the development and implementation of the data exchange alongside Charles Sturt University (CSU), Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), Fisheries Research Development Corporation (FRDC), CSIRO and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI)
Delivered on three key use cases for MLA and AWI on end to end data reporting for the Sheep Sustainability Framework, CSIRO on improved searchability on energy transition research and CSU on integrating farm management applications to the Cool Soils Initiative for carbon emissions calculation.
Initiated three new projects including FRDC and AgriFutures on a gen-AI tool on existing and future research and CSU on developing the data integration for Vineyard of the Future project with Wine Australia.
Delivered a practical roadmap to guide the development of the exchange from a project to commercialisation
Established the foundations for a trusted data governance to continue to develop data-sharing frameworks and tools to support the agricutural industry
Positioned the data exchange as the central hub for agriculture innovation, with early traction through pilot projects, cross-RDC participation and showcasing at EvokeAg and and Hort Connections 2025.
Endorsed as a priority by leadership, with early adoption by multiple AI-enabled projects and existing funding partners
The Future
The data exchange is poised to become a cornerstone of Australia’s agri-innovation ecosystem. The next horizon is scaling beyond pilots into everyday industry use and commercialisation of the platform, with data governance and AI readiness built in to support sustainable growth.