PestNu targets the field -testing and demonstration of digital and space based technologies (DST) and agro-ecological and organic practices (AOP) under a systemic approach to reduce the pesticides and fertilisers use, and loss of nutrients. The consortium brings novel DST including: AI robotic traps for real time pest monitoring; Autonomous mobile robots for pesticide monitoring and 3D spot spraying; Earth Observation missions with robust Agroradar AI algorithms to map soil/plant nutrients and pest plant inputs using Copernicus data/services; and in-situ and real-time nutrient analysers. All the DST will be interconnected to a user-centric cloud-based Farm Management System, which features a robust Decision Support System integrated with a blockchain based system for DST data evidence, integrity and AI models verification and with a cybersecurity platform to prevent cyber-attacks and IoT vulnerabilities. The AOP include: on-site production of biofertilisers from agricultural waste-waters through a robust automated drainage recycling system via an innovative enzymatic hydrolysis procedure; a novel foliar biopesticide formulated by circular bioeconomy operations, targeting fungal diseases with biostimulant effect; and advanced nutritional programs for organic farming. The showcase systemic DST & AOP solutions will be demonstrated and tested in aquaponic and hydroponic greenhouse and open-field vegetable cultivation in Greece and Spain. A Pesticide Reduction Program will evaluate the Maximum Residue and the Acceptable Daily Intake levels to ensure vegetable's food safety and LCA activities will be performed. All these systemic approaches will be performed under a strong collaboration among all the Farm to Fork stakeholders and European Commission services.

Over 50% global oil and gas is produced by offshore assets beyond midpoint of their design lives. 50% all asset failures related to technical integrity are due to ageing (MARS). Ageing assets therefore represent major hazards for offshore oil and gas personnel, the environment and the society. Europe accounted for 28% reported major accident loss of containment from 1980 to 2006, with 11 fatalities, 183 injuries & >€170M economic loss (HSE). The recent crude oil price drop is forcing oil and gas operators to increasingly focus on extending lifespan of existing offshore assets (above design life), as oppose to asset replacement. Assuring assets integrity and safety of personnel, environment & society also remains a top priority. 2016 oil and gas industry report concluded that new asset inspection technologies could generate €1bn p.a. for the sector. We timely propose to finalize a unique and first commercial system (ASPIRE) which combines & automates: asset inspection; inspection data analyses; and maintenance scheduling. The system will inspect & report maintenance schedules for critical assets (e.g. well conductor) within 1 day at cost of €4K. Current industry standard and state-of-the-art methods are fragmented: inspection companies generate large amounts of data manually, which is time-consuming (e.g. 5 days for well conductor), extremely risky (access hazardous environments without prior sound knowledge of asset status) and expensive. Inspection data is then passed to data analyses firm for interpretation/reporting (+5 days), followed by maintenance planning (+5 days), costing >€20K for the whole process for a 100m/24 well conductor. ASPIRE combines these 3 Steps in 1. It reduces inspection and maintenance scheduling time (1 day vs 15 days/well conductor) and cost (€4K vs >€20K). ASPIRETM will generate €49.5M revenue & €24.7M gross profit for SME-led consortium within 5 years (2019-2023),i.e. 10:1 ROI for EC grant, creating 62 new consortium jobs in the process.

The European ship fleet counts 23,000 vessels, accounting for the 40% of the global gross tonnage. Marine industry is a major prosperity engine of the EU contributing a total of €147bn to the GDP and supporting more than 1.7m jobs. However, the vessels’ structural integrity verification is a major issue for the shipping industry. Regulations dictate that Non Destructive Testing (NDT) inspections should be performed every 5 years for the first decade of a vessel’s life and every 2.5 years thereafter. Ship hull weld inspection is a challenging process as safety-critical welds length exceeds 120km in large vessels and involves human inspectors on site using scaffolding or cherry-pickers. These procedures require long periods of dry-docking incurring loss of revenue and costs amounting to more than €150k per inspection. Moreover conventional ultrasonic techniques cannot be applied on metal plates of thickness <10mm, which are commonly used nowadays to reduce ship weight. This necessitates the use of dangerous radiographic techniques posing health and safety issues. These challenges give rise to a unique business opportunity which Spectrum Labs and Tecnitest (leading NDT equipment and service providers) along with Innora (dynamic high-tech company specializing in robotics) and TWI (global leader in NDT technology) aspire to seize with the help of Lloyds’ Register, the most reputable shipping service provider with 230 years of experience. We aim to redefine ship NDT inspection by commercializing ShipTest, a laser-guided robotic crawler able to automatically track the weld and inspect the hull while the ship is at sea. Through a combination of bleeding-edge ultrasonic and electromagnetic techniques ShipTest can accurately inspect metal plates of <10mm thickness eliminating the need for radiography. By commercialising ShipTest we will grow our businesses by €47.7m, cumulatively over 5 years, generating €19.04m in profits and creating 398 direct jobs and 1185 indirect jobs