Owen Farm Services is the latest agricultural company to collaborate with the Digital Dairy Chain project to help drive and fund more innovation across the dairy industry.
The Digital Dairy Chain is a five-year, UK Research & Innovation funded project, with a budget of £21 million to transform the dairy sector in the region and uplift the rural economy, via grant funding and sustainable solutions.
The project aims to transform the dairy supply chain through innovation, collaboration and growth.
It offers businesses and individuals involved in the dairy supply chain across Cumbria and South and West Scotland a range of services to support innovation and productivity through collaboration.
Project partners will focus on aligning industry needs which will include developing digital connectivity, stimulating research and new product development, supporting business growth and attracting talent and skills, across the region.
High levels of interest in the Digital Dairy Chain’s Innovation Voucher scheme have led to Owen Farm Services joining the Innovation Brokerage team with Maggie Wilson taking the lead, with support from the wider consultancy team.
Owen Farm Services were awarded the competitive contract by the Digital Dairy Chain for their expert understanding of the local dairy sector, and their knowledge of the wider challenges that the innovation voucher scheme hopes to find solutions for.
Maggie Wilson comes from a project management background with experience from the oil and gas sector and is a graduate of Aberdeen University and Robert Gordon University. Since 2022 she has worked with Owen Farm Services leading on project management and marketing.
Speaking about her secondment to the Digital Dairy Chain, Maggie said, “We are thrilled to be working with the Digital Dairy Chain to help bring ideas to life and support new research which will benefit our clients in the dairy sector and beyond. Myself and the rest of the consultancy team were very keen to play an active role in supporting new technology development, as well as facilitating cross-industry collaborations.
“I’m looking forward to connecting people from across disciplines, from academia, agriculture, and from our existing business networks to develop new products, services or ideas.”
Pauline Murray, Innovation Brokerage Project Manager, commented, “We have recently opened round seven of the Innovation Voucher scheme, with an application deadline of the 15th August. Interest and applications to the scheme since it launched a little over a year ago have increased month on month with 27 projects having successfully received funding and several more in pipeline already for round seven.
“We were delighted to offer the Innovation Brokerage subcontract to Owen Farm Services, their knowledge and expertise in the dairy sector is second to none and Maggie’s project management background and enthusiasm are exactly what we need to keep developing new ideas and collaborations.”