Aruna: Revolutionizing Indonesian Fishing Industry with IoT and Data Insights

Aruna's customers are primarily Indonesian fishermen. These fishermen traditionally relied on their knowledge to predict weather patterns and locate prime fishing grounds. They sold their catch to middlemen who would then store and transport the fish to larger markets. This process often resulted in lower income for the fishermen. Furthermore, only 25% of fishermen in rural villages used smartphones due to limited power supplies and low digital literacy. However, with Aruna's digital fishing ecosystem, these fishermen are now able to log catches, record fish sales, bid for the best price, and receive prompt payments. They also gain insights into sustainable fishing methods and regulations, and have access to global markets.

In Indonesia, the fishing industry has traditionally been fraught with challenges. Fishermen relied on traditional knowledge to predict weather patterns and locate prime fishing grounds, leaving much of their catch and sales to chance. The increasing impact of climate change further complicated these predictions. Additionally, fishermen in remote villages were dependent on middlemen to sell their catch, store, and transport the fish to larger markets. This process often resulted in lower income for the fishermen. Furthermore, the fishing industry was largely paper-based, slowing down the flow of information and making it difficult to trace seafood from the fishermen to the consumer. Exporting fish abroad was a complex process due to the paperwork and logistics involved, which many fishermen did not understand. Lastly, only 25% of fishermen in rural villages used smartphones due to limited power supplies and low digital literacy, posing a significant challenge to digitizing the industry.

Aruna, a fishery products supply chain, introduced a digital fishing ecosystem to help fishermen navigate these challenges and maximize their revenue. The company developed two applications, Aruna Heroes and Nelayan, on Google Cloud. Aruna Heroes allows fishermen to log catches, record fish sales, bid for the best price, and receive prompt payments. The app works offline and syncs data with Google Cloud once back online. The Nelayan Aruna app provides fishermen with information on sustainable fishing methods and regulations. In 2021, Aruna launched GPS trackers to help fishermen avoid illegal fishing and improve their profit with seafood traceability. To overcome the challenge of low digital literacy, Aruna worked with local governments to improve technology access and recruited mobile-savvy youths to help fishermen go digital. Aruna also digitized processes to facilitate collaboration among hundreds of sites in the fishery ecosystem. For instance, catch data from the Aruna Heroes app is used to secure required documents for export clearance. Aruna also standardized stock-keeping units (SKUs) and used BigQuery to collate real-time information from various business systems, enabling accurate demand prediction and reducing food waste.

• Aruna's digital fishing ecosystem has transformed the traditional fishing industry in Indonesia. By digitizing fishing processes, Aruna has been able to connect fishermen directly with wholesalers and consumers, eliminating the need for middlemen. This has resulted in increased income for the fishermen. The use of apps has also improved fishermen's knowledge of sustainable fishing by visualizing protected marine areas and vessel movements. Furthermore, the digitization of processes has facilitated collaboration among hundreds of sites in the fishery ecosystem, making it easier to trace seafood from the fishermen to the consumer. Aruna's use of BigQuery to collate real-time information from various business systems has also enabled accurate demand prediction, reducing food waste. Lastly, Aruna's efforts to improve technology access and digital literacy among fishermen have been successful, with more than 36,000 fishermen now using the company's apps.

• Connected more than 36,000 fishermen to global markets

• Reduced food waste by predicting demand for thousands of SKUs with BigQuery

• 10X increase in fishermen’s revenues with big data