This session will explore how WGS and NGS are being leveraged by public health agencies, academia, and industry to improve surveillance, enhance traceability, modernize outbreak response, validate controls, and deepen our understanding of root cause analysis, virulence, and risk. In addition, it will examine how genomic data and accompanying metadata are collected, curated, and shared through national and international databases. Discussion will include how metadata (e.g., source, matrix, geography, and date of isolation) provide critical context for linking isolates to outbreaks or contamination events, and how standardized formats and open-access systems allow these data to be repurposed for academic research, risk assessment, and continuous improvement of food safety controls.