Intelligence Hub

Transparency and efficiency enabled by technology

The SAN Intelligence Hub (iHub) is an information management solution specifically designed for agricultural operations and supply chains to simplify decision making process and add value to the Farms for the Future program’s participants.

What is the iHub?

The iHub gives SAN, and organizations, a mechanism to identify best practices that farmers need help with, and then helps guide that support to the right farmer audiences. Organizations can monitor progress towards outcomes and impacts on the iHub dashboard, and can design their own analysis and reporting features.

The system includes many features such as customized baseline assessments and compliance checklists, performance dashboards, geographical location and maps of farms, group management, charts and reports that facilitate the overview and real time monitoring of farms and supply chains.

The SAN-SAF indicators are embedded in the iHub, but other frameworks, including certification standards, can be uploaded into the system to ease tracking, analysis and reporting. SAN can adapt existing reporting and tracking dashboards for the participants' frameworks, or develop new dashboards and dashboard elements as needed.

The iHub offers many advantages such as:

Ability to collect specific information from all operations as a baseline and gradually update this data.
Ability to include areas, land uses and polygon drawings from operations.
Management of groups of farms.
Visualization of the whole operation in hierarchical charts and location maps.
Ability to work with online/offline capabilities to perform evaluations in the field.
Addition of custom schemes and indicators for creating different types of evaluation tools.
Customizable baseline forms, compliance checklists and reports.
Ability to monitor the organization’s performance through dashboards and metrics.

Data management can be a key driver in major shifts within the food production systems.

Having useful and accurate data can help producers and other actors in the food supply chain. It can be used to provide insights, drive real-time decisions and redesign entire systems to meet both the market and sustainability demands.

Frequently asked questions about the iHub

How much does it cost per user per year?

As this is a system tailored to each organization, the price varies depending on many elements. The main factors affecting pricing include: - Customization of the iHub elements (including additional schemes, indicators and metrics, modified forms and tools); - Number and type of users required; and - Data storage capacity. Every budget is designed according to the specific needs of each organization. Pricing is composed of two main elements: - The costs of customization, that are charged once at the beginning of the project and will depend on the level of customization required; and - The costs per user and data storage capacity, that is charged in a user/year basis.

How much time does the customization take?

It depends on the level of customization required. It is different to include a couple of additional indicators than a full new scheme. The SAN is characterized by complete transparency in the design of a custom budget.

How is this system different that other data management systems?

The iHub was created to accommodate to the complexity of agricultural and livestock supply chains, therefore is easier to adapt to each client needs and expectations. It is not a generic system of information management and adapted for agricultural use, but a platform designed from the field experience to support efficient management of agricultural operations.

How many different schemes can the system manage?

As many as required, flexibility and adaptation are the key features of the tool. This, of course, will affect pricing as the more systems to include, the more customization will be needed to make sure all the elements of the system work properly (baseline forms, compliance checklists, reports and dashboards).

Can we use this system to manage certification schemes?

Yes, the system allows to efficiently manage all activities relates to certification, especially group management. However, is when using the iHub combined with the SAN-SAF that the client will get the most value.

Do I need special training to use the iHub? Do you provide troubleshooting services?

the iHub is intended to be an easy-to-use tool and a self-explained platform. However, a guided training is performed to current users once enrolled. Anything related to issues like data entry errors or access problems can be reported to ihub@san.eco.