Profile: The Nebraska Animal Verification Enhancement (NAVE) project is a collaborative effort of the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management Software Design Studio and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. The NAVE team has developed software that will allow the state's livestock producers to automatically track animal locations throughout the life cycle, enabling animal health officials to trace the location of any animal in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak. This "traceback" is expected to take less than 48 hours, instead of weeks, helping to mitigate a potential catastrophe.

Solution: Team members have worked closely with state and federal officials to implement Nebraska's portion of the US Animal Identification Program (USAIP); the NAVE team is building for Nebraska the first all-new USAIP-compliant system in the country. This system will give the nation's food supply and Nebraska's beef industry an additional measure of safety and security.