Digital Disruption and the Implications for Food Markets - Dr Stefan Hajkowicz

Dr Stefan Hajkowicz from the Data61 Strategic Foresight Team at CSIRO spoke about the opportunities and challenges for Australian agrifood industries in the world of 2020 and beyond.

Putting things in perspective, by 2030 the centre of the world’s economy will be in Asia. A person born in 2016 will potentially live to be 150-years-old. By 2043, 40 per cent of Government taxes will be spent on healthcare in Australia. Adequate food production to feed the current population and distribution of food remain the key challenges.

In-line with rising health and wellbeing standards, consumers are becoming more selective and want to know immediately through the scanning of a product in the supermarket with their smartphone how a product suits their own personal nutrition needs to inform their shopping choices, as well as wanting to know how it was produced, where and when.

The rising influence of digital and online communications means what had previously disrupted the market, such as smartphones to digital cameras, will quickly be disrupted by a newer technology, such as Blockchain and Apple Pay.

Businesses currently forecast the future based on shopping patterns and behaviours and the assumption that consumers' behaviour is somewhat like ours. The new generations - Z and A - however are introducing new worldviews and paradigms not yet considered by current organisations.