Strict safety regulations create significant inefficiencies in the food sector, as well as for food authorities, by forcing repetitive manual data entry under established procedures. Although the digital age offers tools to eliminate this waste, resolving the issue requires a cultural shift and the creation of unified workflows between the public and private sectors. At the “Food Safety 2025” conference, Hardi Tamm, Head of the Estonian Dairy Cluster, proposed the creation of unified workflows as a clear path toward fostering cooperation between the food industry and the state. By doing so, both sides could achieve unprecedented levels of performance.
Instead of fusing systems together, this approach focuses on data reuse and exchange. Starting with a principal decision, both sides become active participants in the oversight process, sharing a common goal. By following a tripartite or multi-party standard procedure, we can open data already entered into state registries for secure, two-way sharing — such as providing the official oversight report directly to the entrepreneur to use within their private supply chain. Once this cultural shift is made, we can break the glass ceiling. Then, by digitally linking these separate administrative domains, both sides would switch to an automated data flow, dramatically cutting costs and errors without compromising their independent roles or strict safety standards. In short, through an empowered workflow, both the data entry burden and exchange volumes are reduced to just a few fields, alongside a confirmation that all other data is available upon request.
This is not just a theoretical plan; a working model already exists. The implementation of a paperless animal disposal service in Estonia at the end of 2024 demonstrated that a globally rare public-private workflow in the agricultural sector is highly viable. The latter suggests that breaking isolated working traditions is effective and that data sharing is fully achievable. The conference presentation can be viewed HERE [Video in Estonian].