As the global demand for products from food-producing animals increases with greater household economic capacity, there is an increased emphasis on the development of precision technologies for monitoring the health, product production, and wellbeing of these animals. The present review focuses on pork production. Using these systems is advantageous for enhancing pork production efficiency when trained personnel utilize these technologies to full capacity and have objective, automated, and uninterrupted streams of data collection. While these systems have great potential for revolutionizing food animal production, the nascent stage of computer vision in precision technology has precluded its integration into traditional agricultural practices and systems. In this review paper, there is a focus on the need to (1) evaluate the performance and effective use of computer vision technologies to collect and evaluate reliable data from pork production enterprises; and (2) focus on the current state of sensor-based animal management using a data fusion approach to monitor pig health/performance. Many of these technologies are in various stages of development; therefore, these technologies have not been integrated into pork production or other food animal producing systems. Even though the focus of this review article is on the utilization of these technologies in pork production systems, these technologies are relevant in other food animal production systems, particularly dairy and poultry production. Therefore, we describe an approach that emphasizes the important need for computational capacity and speed, edge computing, data storage and transmission, and maintaining connectivity in rural settings.

Equitable access to high-speed internet connectivity is critical to participation in modern society regardless of your physical location. As services such as banking, health, shopping, education and participation in political discourse increasingly move online and away from a physical presence, individuals with poor or inadequate internet connectivity are unfairly affected. This digital divide not only exacerbates existing inequalities but also limits opportunities for economic growth and social mobility, making it essential for policymakers to prioritise infrastructure development in underserved areas. Since the United Nations (UN) declared access to the internet a basic human right in 2003, improvements to internet connectivity that is available to residents and businesses in rural, regional and remote (RRR) areas of Australia have been made. However, these improvements have typically focused on the availability of an internet connection, rather than its adequacy. As a result, whilst the residents of RRR areas in Australia have guaranteed access to internet connectivity, this access is not equitable when compared to their urban counterparts. In addition, the tyranny of distance and isolation experienced by the residents of rural and remote Australia make face to face social interactions particularly difficult, especially for minorities. These feelings of isolation are exacerbated for new residents including urban Australians and migrants. This chapter examines the role of internet connectivity in the phenomenon of outwards migration from rural and regional areas and the role of improved internet connectivity in attracting and retaining residents including migrants into regional and remote Australia.