#141 Filmmaker Turned Supply Chain Traceability Expert – A Conversation with Fiona Delaney

An organic farm in the Catskills. A woman in a paddock with a sheep.

Today, Fiona Delaney is a champion for supply chain traceability in the agricultural world – but she started on a different path. Growing up in Dublin she pursued a career as an artist – producing and directing films including reality television and a local hit version of “The Voice”.

In her early thirties, Fiona found herself wanting a different challenge. She returned to school and studied computer science and software development. During this time, Fiona even developed an open-innovation model to help people implement blockchain in their systems.

However, it was Fiona’s love for agriculture – particularly sustainability and authenticity that led her to found Origin Chain Networks. Traceability is so critical today – knowing where a product originated – the materials/ingredients that went into it – and the path it took through the supply chain. Companies are facing increased regulations to avoid (and act quickly to isolate potential problems) contamination in the food chain.

Pursuing her dream to create accountability in the food chain, Fiona is making it possible for organic and sustainable farmers to have an easy way to enjoy “farm to fork” traceability for their products using her “Authenteer Platform”. She is starting with food and fisheries with an eye toward more industries Fiona believes would benefit from a “single source of truth.”

Be empowered and hear Fiona’s personal and professional journey right here on the WAM Podcast.

MEET YOUR HOST

Linda Rigano

Linda Rigano is the Principal Consultant of The Rigano Group. Her expertise and enthusiasm for strategic and effective communication permeate all that she does as a consultant to B2B and B2C technology, manufacturing, supply chain, and publishing organizations to improve business performance and stakeholder relationships by building highly successful and measurable communications programs.

With over 20 years of industry experience, Linda has excelled in helping organizations advance the discussion of important industry issues. She was central to the development and promotion of ThomasNet’s annual Industry Market Barometer® (IMB) survey on the state of manufacturing, the ThomasNet/ISM “30 Under 30 Rising Supply Chain Stars” Recognition Program, and ThomasNet’s North American Scholarship Program. Linda also served as Director of Strategic Alliances for ThomasNet, and for many years was the Publisher of the Thomas Food Industry Register.

Throughout her career, Linda has been an active participant and presenter for manufacturing, supply management, and business associations. She is widely quoted in business and trade media, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Nightly Business Report, and Industry Today. Linda holds an MBA in marketing from Fordham University.

Connect with Linda Rigano on LinkedIn.

SPECIAL GUEST

Fiona Delaney

Fiona Delaney is founder and CEO at Origin Chain Networks (OCN), an Irish agri-tech micro-enterprise advancing digital transformation in the agri-food sector. OCN are winners of a European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Seedbed award (2020) for a mobile data collection toolkit for use by farmers on-the-fly. For farmers across Europe, going ‘digital-first’ raises issues of available finance, internet access, technology upskilling and conflict around data ownership and data privacy.

Engagement with European standardization benefits OCN and its customers by positioning agri-business at the heart of the single digital marketplace, leveraging access to resources and infrastructural support (eg H2020, EU Blockchain Service Infrastructure) and utilizing novel regulatory frameworks (egg eiders, delivery) to address digitization issues common to farmers across Ireland and the EU.

Fiona Delaney is an EU award-winning Innovation and Standards contributor (2020) in the emerging field of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies; Horizon 2020 StandICT award recipient (2019) for leadership and contribution to national (NSAI), European (CEN/CENELEC, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE) and global (ISO, ITU-T, IEEE) standards development for emerging technologies.