Purpose of this Document

The Co-operative Intelligence Unit (CIU), an initiative of the BC Co-operative Association (BCCA) and Alberta Community Co-operative Association (ACCA), are composing a retrospective of the Big Data in Ag symposium and workshop which took place on March 25-26th, 2022 organized by the BCCA in collaboration with the Canadian Center for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Saskatchewan. Our aim is to synthesize key insights from the symposium sessions, workshop and the BCCA Agriculture and Food Co-operative conference which happened in parallel so as to inform future directions for the co-operative sector in this space, as well as immediate next steps. With the aspiration that this working document may serve as a building-off point for future collaboration, we are inviting all attendees to contribute their notes, ideas, and takeaways from our time together. We plan to publish the contents of this report as a means of contributing the collective knowledge that was convened back to the commons, and of inviting a wider circle of partners into the conversation.

Contributors

• Iva Jankovic (Editor)
• Mario Cimet
• Marc-Andre Pigeon
• Ian Glassford
• Bill Oemichen
• Stan Yu
• Dan Lussier

Table of Contents

Background

What we Heard

Next Steps

Appendix A. Session Summaries

Appendix B. Presenter Profiles

Appendix C. Initiatives

Ways to Contribute

1. Review, leave comments, or contribute directly to the Retrospective right here on Notion. See here for tips!
2. Add your notes and insights directly for each session or page on the Conference Session Summaries workspace.
3. Send your notes and insights to Iva Jankovic, CIU coordinator and retrospective editor, at [email protected].

Timeline

• Early April, 2022: BCCA team will synthesize initial notes and outline a collaborative document for collecting notes, insights, and takeaways from event attendees
• Mid April, 2022: BCCA team will circulate collaborative document to event attendees to input their notes, insights, and takeaways from the event
• Late April, 2022: We will begin publishing elements of this retrospective report (e.g. on BCCA blog, newsletter, Wikipedia, Medium, etc.)
• Early May, 2022: Preparing full final retrospective for publication.
• Mid May, 2022: Publish full final retrospective.
• Late May, 2022 and onwards: Knowledge mobilization and outreach (e.g. presenting at various sector and academic conferences in partnership with attendees, hosting online informational and engagement events, etc.)

More Info

Agriculture & Food Co-op Conference & Trade Show - Summary and Thank You - BC Coop Association (bcca.coop)

Share session recordings here? (They will be/are on the CCSC YouTube channel: coopstudies)

Calls to Action

From Ian’s notes: Do you see a clear opportunity from data aggregation or analysis in your co-op business or sector but don't have time to research it further? We are interested in identifying real world data related projects with clear application that can be extrapolated to the cooperative sector. We just may be able to provide some or all of the resources you need.