Joining the Pieces Towards Risk Intelligence NSF Consulting

Joining the Pieces Towards Risk Intelligence NSF Consulting Group Launch Conference , February 7 th 2013 Dr. Jo Head BSc. (Hons. ), Ph. D, FIFST Director, Head Consultancy www. headconsultancy. net

Contents • • • State of Play a. Head of the Game Board Games – Risk Maturity Smarter Pieces Joining the Jigsaw Pieces - Towards Risk Intelligence

State of Play FSA Chief Scientists Report 2011

a. Head of the Game To achieve food security ‘safe space’ ( CCFAS 2011).

Where do we need to go? ‘Meeting the challenges of food security over the next 40 years will require a global cultural and technological transformation on much the same scale as the Renaissance or the Industrial Revolution’ ( King, 2011). Numerous Vision Statements have been published with the same messages:

a. Head of the Game • Food safety pressures continue to increase • Global Supply Chain • Legislative & Scientific Knowledge Change • Multiple Standards • Product innovation/ renovation • Unannounced audits • Skills gaps • Future Food/ Sustainability • Business as usual is not an option • Smarter approaches are required • Many of the pieces of the jig-saw are available Better integration and stakeholder collaboration are vital to improve food safety as we currently know it (Cabinet Office 2008). NSF Consulting Group has a key part to Play.

Board Games/Risk Maturity

Risk Management to Risk Intelligence Conventional risk management focusses on risk avoidance While the protection of existing assets is necessary, it is not sufficient for competitive advantage. Avoiding the risks of non-compliance with regulations and operational failures are essential activities but are not sufficient for competitive advantage A diet of pure risk aversion likely will lead to extinction Understanding, visibility and managing risks are essential for business survival and success.

Risk Management Infrastructure Electronic GRC platforms are available to build a solid foundation for quality, safety and risk management. • These can provide a streamlined, flexible risk management infrastructure – – Embed a true Quality and Food Safety culture – Business system fit for purpose – • Increasing transparency and intra- & inter-enterprise collaboration Management performance on demand to drive continuous improvement and business value Which allows the otherwise unattainable e. g. : – No surprises – Multiple standard cross-compliance – Previously invisible trends for improvement/ Root Cause Analysis – Feasability of unannounced audits

Predictive Risk Analytics-Based Risk Management Strategy • Visibility , responsibility & accountability of risk information across the organization in real time to determine the best time to take the risk or stop it altogether e. g. Bow-tie framework. • Make decisions faster and spend less time “putting out fires. ” • Gain more confidence and trust in decisions that are made. • Reduce costs and make better use of resources. • Build a stronger organization that is resilient to change and ready to exploit new opportunities • Support business innovation while reducing or maintaining an acceptable level of operational risk • Avoid negative publicity.

Collaborative Intelligence Platforms • • A number of platforms to facilitate collaboration, information sharing, transparency, collective industry improvement and consumer confidence have been developed Best practice for food can be usefully drawn from other industry sectors: STEADES for AIATA; ECAIRS for Transport; SMIS for the UK Rail Sector; NRLS for the UK NHS Health Sector • Development of a food safety equivalent would similarly provide many & various opportunities – Create a solid evidence base & level playing field – Minimise the pain of introducing additional regulatory, customer and standards burdens – Facilitate integration of new tools, science and evidence • WHO is developing FOSCOLLAB for that purpose NSF Consulting Group should be developing a Collaborative Intelligence Platform.

Smarter Pieces • Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) Tools • Horizon Scanning Tools • Communication Tools

QRA Tools- What? • QRA tools offer a framework for predicting the impact of changes and trends on the provision of safe food • Reams of tools are published on Food. Risk. org • Which ones to use? – Some can usefully be adopted at business level – Others require independent industry expertise - As a clearinghouse - To interpret output from models - To co-ordinate and anonymise industry data gathering to: • Overcome current barriers to implementation • Achieve consistency through industry benchmarking • Provide a single version of the truth • Allow collective industry continuous improvement NSF Consulting Group could provide a Risk Intelligent Clearing House

QRA Tools- Why? • Allow industry to take better responsibility for determining risk benefit/ balanced risk • Better objective decision making – Avoiding incidents - – Ingredient risks Recipe changes Minimising impact of incidents - • To recall or not Risk benefit No more precautionary principle

Horizon Scanning Tools • Supply chain incidents are on the rise : RASSF (2011) received 3812 notifications = + 13. 5 % • Smarter, dynamic tools are required to improve protection • There a number of initiatives and tools in place which aim to identify emerging risks and food fraud e. g. • Fraud Database (www. foodfraud. org) - Professor John Spink • Kingston University Interactive Tool – Professor Declan Naughton • Data standardisation is key to building a cohesive and robust collaborative network The NSF Consulting Group could/should be doing for Collective Industry Improvement.

Communication Tools • The EC Food. Ris. C Project aims to map out the networks and information sources contributing to food risk and benefit communication in Europe – – • to create a toolkit that will facilitate effective and coherent communication on food promoting consumer understanding and confidence ‘Infodemiology’ ( the analysis of information distributed on the internet) – Emerging as a powerful tool in controlling the spread of foodborne illness – Could help minimise the impact of outbreaks in the future. • US Food Safety Inspection Service have introduced a system of food safety Twitter feeds to accelerate consumer communication and restrict impact of foodborne outbreaks NSF Consulting Group are setting up Facebook, Twitter and Linked – In accounts, both open and closed to capitalise on Intelligence.

Future Food

Future Food Microalgae Symbiosis Suit Michael Burton and Michiko Nitta (2011)

Consumer Engagement • New technologies and future foods must benefit the consumer and balance risks to be successfully introduced. • It is critical that genetic modification and cutting-edge technologies such as nanotechnology are embraced in a hi-tech farming revolution to avoid catastrophic food shortages and future climate change • With genetically modified foods popularly labelled as ‘Frankenstein’ foods subject to on-going protest and nanotechnology as ‘the new asbestos’ there is a lot of work to be done and much is in progress to undo the damage from lack of strategic consumer engagement. • A recent survey carried out by the Consumers’ Association of Canada reported that most respondents had not heard of irradiated food – once asked the question 2/3 rds of respondents said they would support it. NSF Consultancy Group could have a significant part to play in providing Independent Risk Intelligence to minimise resistance to vital advances in Science & Technology

Towards Risk Intelligence • The introduction of smarter tools and approaches towards risk intelligence is vital to prepare for an impending Food Revolution to deliver food security for 2050 • Adoption of GRC platforms and quantitative risk solutions by the food industry has been slow • A concerted effort is required for industry co-ordination and collaboration • The tools are available for a quantum leap towards risk intelligence at a business level and collective continuous improvement at an industry level I hope and believe that the NSF Consultancy Group will provide a robust platform and catalyst for delivering that Revolution far beyond what I can achieve independently

Thank you for listening!