From live weights at the stockyard to crop yields in the orchard, farmers are constantly surrounded by raw data that needs to be captured, collated and shared. 

But while smartphones may have become supercomputers, paper forms and clipboards continue to rule the roost when it comes to data collection in the field, creating endless written records that need to be transferred into online systems and reports. 
Australian-based tech company Real Time Data is helping to combat this double handling dilemma with an efficient electronic solution tailored to the way you work. 

Having already established a global presence in the fisheries industry, the company is now looking to cast its net wider by seeking investment to prove out growth channels in the US, and to customise its’ digital platform for additional agrifood sectors across the globe, starting with Australian farmers.

Interested in Real Time Data’s opportunity? Expressions of Interest close Wednesday, 31 January 2024. Visit grow^AG. here.

The company was founded in 2011 by a South Australian fisherman and a digital media expert, who developed a simple digital alternative to filling out written reports for fisheries regulators. 

Twelve years later it has evolved into a sophisticated workflow-based data collection platform known as Deckhand, which is designed to capture information in the field (or on the water!). 

Deployed within the commercial fishing industry, the company currently has more than 600 customers with multiple different fisheries in Australia, New Zealand, the US and Costa Rica, capturing everything from maintenance and logbook data to catch totals and locations as well as vessel trip reporting. 

The beauty of Deckhand lies in its workflow application development system known as Catchflow, which is used to customise the platform to meet the individual workflow requirements of each customer. 

Real Time Data’s Chief Operating Officer Doug Adamson said the potential for the platform is significant. 

“The platform itself looks the same whether it's in Adelaide, Auckland or Alaska. But the actual way the interface works differs based on the workflow requirements of the fishermen using it. We've deployed seven different applications in the last seven months and can rapidly build workflow specific applications in multiple countries. 

“Better data collection means better interpretation, better potential for analysis and better business improvements. So it's not just about efficiency, it's about productivity as well.” 

Now operating with 15 staff in Australia and the US, the company has been funded to date by angel investors and multiple commercialisation grants. 

Real Time Data is currently seeking further investment to scale up its operations and explore future growth channels in the US, as well as expand its reach into other agrifood sectors by delivering early stage trials in a range of agricultural markets in Australia. 
Doug said their data collection platform could easily be reconfigured for use by agricultural trial partners and branded to reflect its’ use in that specific industry. 

“There are myriad opportunities in many different agricultural sectors to replace paper data collection with an electronic platform,” Doug said.  

Real Time Data is looking to commence early-stage trials in different agricultural markets in Australia, if you’re interested in exploring this opportunity in your industry, visit grow^AG. here.

“One example could be livestock saleyards, where the livestock need to be assessed before they go into any kind of auction platform or marketing system. The livestock assessors typically do that manually on a form, which they then upload into the market system. 

“But we could completely eliminate the paper in this process, with livestock assessors using our platform to record information about the livestock, which would then automatically go into their auction platform.  

“Another use case might be in really high value tree crops where it’s important to know yield, location, and timing for traceability purposes as the crop is harvested by field operators. 

“Agriculture is a much bigger market than commercial fishing and we would hope that in three to five years’ time, we'll have thousands of customers using the platform in multiple countries.”