Abstract: Sensor technologies measuring individual animal behaviour and physiological parameters are increasingly used in dairy farms to improve fertility and health management. These technologies produce a large amount of high-resolution data at individual cow level and thus interest in using these data exists beyond herd management. In this study,which was conducted within ICAR’s Brian Wickham Young Persons Exchange Program （BWPEX） ffve representatives from ICAR member organizations and research institutions were interviewed to gain more insights into benefits and challenges of the use of sensor data beyond its intended purpose. The topics addressed in the interview were about below topics. （1）The greatest potential of using sensor data in general and for the interview partner’s organization specifically.（2）How sensor data is currently used in the interview partner’s organization and planned to be used in the future.（3）Which challenges exist and how they can be overcome.（4）How sensor data can be used for animal health and welfare improvement and for breeding.（5） How important sensor data will be for the dairy industry in the future. All interview partners attributed great potential to the use of sensor data beyond herd management and were interested in using it also in their organizations. However, several challenges were identified and although ideas on how to overcome them exist, it was concluded that the development of third-party applications or other products based on sensor data is not ready yet. Some aspects of how the data may contribute to enhancement of animal health and welfare and in a breeding context were mentioned and there was consensus that these data will play an important role for dairy industry in the future.

Key words: cow, sensor data, animal health and welfare, breeding, interview