The Outcome
After winning the tender, Square V undertook an initial research and design phase, meeting with LiveCorp staff, exporters, veterinarians, stockpeople, vessel staff, Registered Establishment operators and staff from the Department of Agriculture to understand all facets of the environment and process and the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (ASEL). We also visited a vessel loading to see the process on-the-ground.
Based on these findings, we designed the multiple parts of the LIVEXCollect system to work together to allow the standardised and swift entry of data on the ship, and the transport and display of that data for viewing by exporter and regulatory staff. Key during the design of the system was Square V's understanding of the users of the system and their needs and level of computer skills. Like many of our software users, users of the LIVEXCollect system are often not "computer people", so the software needed to be intuitive and easy-to-use, especially considering that parts of the system are used on a ship away from phone signal, making software support challenging!
Key focuses during the software architecture and development phases were robustness and security. Due to the regulatory nature of the system along with the lack of easy support access on the ship, the system needed to be highly robust. Security was also critical, and the system has undergone ongoing security reviews and penetration testing to ensure the highest standards.
The LiveCorp report on the project states the following:
"The LIVEXCollect digital platform comprises a website for use by Registered Establishments (pre-export quarantine yards), exporters and the regulator; a shipboard computer program (which works offline); and a mobile phone application to record observations on the decks of ships, to sync back to the computer program. The digital platform allows near real-time reporting and a new suite of reports has been developed to provide exporters with multiple ways to view, analyse, and keep records of LIVEXCollect reporting. LIVEXCollect digital has increased the standardisation and quality of data through a user-friendly interface and validation checks."
