Food Data Infrastructure and Governance

In collaboration with the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP), Defra’s Agri-Food Science team are tendering for a new R&D project on Agri-food system data sharing infrastructure and governance. This project has the following aims: 1. To identify the breadth of data and data sharing initiatives, currently within the agri-food system. 2. To provide detailed recommendation for the design and development of a data sharing infrastructure suitable for the UK agri-food system. 3. To explore the feasibility of operationalising product level environmental impact data sharing across a selection of food product supply chains, through piloting the proposed data sharing infrastructure. The work will build on the work of the FDTP and associated R&D projects commissioned by the Defra Agri-Food science team. More information can be found at the following links: • https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/food-data-transparency-partnership • https://www.wrap.ngo/resources/report/led-4-food-project Bidders should be able to demonstrate good technical understanding of the key themes of the project: digital infrastructure, data sharing infrastructure, date system architecture, and governance structures. They should also have a good understanding of the complexity of the agri-food system. Bidders are encouraged to submit joint bids to ensure that multi-disciplinary requirements across the themes can be satisfied. The project is to be contracted through an open tender competition. It is expected to commence in September 2025 and will last for approximately 18 months. Supplier Engagement Event Please note that the Authority (Defra); will be holding a supplier event in w/c 9th June 2025 (exact time and date TBD). If you and or your organisation is interested in attending this event, please respond using the email address below: FoodDataTransparencyPartnership@defra.gov.uk on or before Monday 2nd June by 12:00pm. Please include the name and email address of who to invite. An invite will be shared via teams.