Thinking outside the box

Two northern Queensland livestock experts are developing software that helps producers understand and manage mega-data.

Story Mandy McKeesick   Photo Constantine Ongarezos

Black Box Co is a cloud-based software program that manages and compares large datasets, presenting insights in graphical form on online dashboards. It is the brainchild of two northern Queensland women, Shannon Speight and Emma Black. “By simply uploading a file to Black Box, data can be tied together across the supply chain,” Shannon says. “It becomes a decision-making tool that you can execute and it gives maximum insight for minimum effort. It takes the grunt work out of data analysis from fertility to growth to carcase.”