The digital transformation of food systems has entered a twilight zone: data-driven innovations have proven to be promising, but it is still unclear how to upscale adoption and have broader acceptance. The Data4Food2030 project aims to improve the data economy for food systems (DE4FS) by expanding its definition, mapping its development, performance and impact to create new insights and opportunities. This contributes to a more competitive and sustainable food system in the EU and supports implementation and adaptation of relevant policies such as a Digital Single Market, Green Deal and the Common Agricultural Policy. Data4Food2030 is a 4-year project that aims to 1) enlarge the knowledge base and insight into the DE4FS, 2) develop a system that monitors and evaluates the development, performance and impact of the DE4FS on relevant EU policies 3) identify drivers and barriers and turn these into opportunities, recommendations and solutions, 4) test solutions and evaluate recommendations in case studies and through stakeholder dialogues and 5) provide future scenarios and a roadmap and sustain the monitoring system to support policy development and accelerate the desired future state of the DE4FS. Data4Food2030’s approach is targeted at an improved future state of the DE4FS from which clear design principles, recommendations and solutions are derived for improving and adapting policies and practices at public and private level. As an essential part of the project, stakeholders are deeply engaged to provide input to various DE4FS concepts and evaluate several project outcomes to increase the impact of the project. Nine case studies provide real-life examples of the DE4FS at micro- and meso-economic level, deploying data and technologies, which are used for mapping and improvement to promote data-enabled business models. In this way, Data4Food2030 creates credible pathways to navigate properly through the twilight zone towards a fair, inclusive and innovative DE4FS.

The TITAN project will demonstrate the latest transparency related solutions to help drive the formation of a demand-driven European economy predicted on the production and consumption of healthy, sustainable, and affordable food. Comprising 28 partners from 14 countries (10 MS and 2 associated countries), TITAN will provide an extensive platform for the development of a wide range of innovations that aid transparency and address key challenges identified in the European Green Deal (EGD). With a broad mix of cutting-edge technology providers SMEs and start-ups, linked to leading research centres and agri-food stakeholders, TITAN, through dedicated business support together with a €1.25M open call, will provide a fertile breeding ground of ideas and solutions for businesses to thrive within the new strategy of the EGD. Through a co-creation approach, 15 innovative solutions including exploiting Blockchain, AI and IoT will be demonstrated in a first wave of TITAN transparency related innovations. These will be supplemented by a further wave of innovations on themes selected by stakeholders in an open call that will be open at the end of Year 1 of this four-year project. The new innovations will deliver transparency solutions in the areas of food safety and authenticity, traceability, health and sustainability and improving information to the consumer. The innovations will be supported by cross cutting WPs dedicated to transparency, ICT solutions, policy, business support, management and communication and dissemination. The project is led by industry facing, not-for-profit organisations with extensive outreach capabilities within Europe and beyond that will enhance the transferability and upscaling and impact of TITAN solutions and provide the building blocks of a demand-driven economy that provides healthy, sustainable, and accessible food for its citizens.

The continuous increase of the scope and the scale of the anthropogenic activities in which agriculture plays a significant role contributes to a rapid negative impact on the carbon cycle. The impact of agriculture on CO2 emissions will be further increased, considering that the world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 . EU has committed to mitigate the carbon footprint from agriculture as described in the CAP (Objective 4), the European Green Deal and its flagship strategies, the Farm to Fork and the Biodiversity strategies. The efficiency of these carbon footprint from agriculture strategies will be mainly determined by the synergy amongst all stakeholders (policy, industry, academia, civil society) in the quadruple helix within the place-based innovation ecosystems. The widening countries involved in this project, Cyprus, Greece and North Macedonia, as part of the Balkan-Mediterranean region, are heavily impacted by climate change. To achieve these targets an inter- and transdisciplinary approach is required to integrate the expertise and knowledge of all relevant stakeholders and a place-based perspective and design needs-based carbon farming solutions (practices and technologies) as well as strict policies to foster shifts towards a Climate-resilient Agriculture. The main objective of this project is to establish CARBONICA Excellence Hub by connecting the innovation ecosystems of Cyprus, Greece and North Macedonia, while enhancing their TRL as service providers, based on cutting-edge technologies (Earth Observation – EO; in situ data; digital agriculture etc.) in carbon farming. The main scope is to establish access to excellence to all relevant stakeholders in the QH of the WC, as well as strengthen regional innovation capacity guided by long-term joint R&I strategy in the carbon farming field.

WATSON provides a methodological framework combined with a set of tools and systems that can detect and prevent fraudulent activities throughout the whole food chain thus accelerating the deployment of transparency solutions in the EU food systems. The proposed framework will improve sustainability of food chains by increasing food safety and reducing food fraud through systemic innovations that a) increase transparency in food supply chains through improved track-and-trace mechanisms containing accurate, time-relevant and untampered information for the food product throughout its whole journey, b) equip authorities and policy makers with data, knowledge and insights in order to have the complete situational awareness of the food chain and c) raise the consumer awareness on food safety and value, leading to the adoption of healthier lifestyles and the development of sustainable food ecosystems. WATSON implements an intelligence-based risk calculation approach to address the phenomenon of food fraud in a holistic way. The project includes three distinct pillars, namely, a) the identification of data gaps in the food chain, b) the provision of methods, processes and tools to detect and counter food fraud and c) the effective cross border collaboration of public authorities through accurate and trustworthy information sharing. WATSON will rely upon emerging technologies (AI, IoT, DLT, etc.) enabling transparency within supply chains through the development of a rigorous, traceability regime, and novel tools for rapid, non-invasive, on-the-spot analysis of food products. The results will be demonstrated in 6 use cases: a) prevention of counterfeit alcoholic beverages, b) preservation of the authenticity of PGI honey, c) on-site authenticity check and traceability of olive oil, d) the identification of possible manipulations at all stages of the meat chain, e) the improved traceability of high-value products in cereal and dairy chain, f) combat of salmon counterfeiting.

Due to a lack of a holistic approach combining physical and digital assets for optimal field performance and minimum environmental impact, AI models, data and autonomous robotic systems in crop care tasks have not reached a mature technological level. The conventional spraying methods result in excessive pesticide and fertilizer use, posing severe environmental impact - being responsible for soil, water and air pollution, and harming non-target plants, insects, animals and humans. Smart Droplets’ main objective is to advance both hardware and software capabilities to deliver a holistic system capable of translating large amounts of data into meaningful information and impactful spraying commands on the field. To demonstrate substantial impact on the Green Deal, Smart Droplets will implement Autonomous retrofit tractors with Direct Injection System (DIS) for intelligent spraying - avoiding exposure of farmers to hazardous chemicals. Through the combination of high-level technologies (>TRL 7), Smart Droplets adopts a hybrid approach for spraying operations, combining Data/AI/Digital Farm Twin technologies designed to translate data into actionable information, and real-time data collected from Field demonstrators evaluating and demonstrating optimised technologies in the real environments. Smart Droplets will exploit synergies with relevant stakeholders, and intensify Community & Capacity building through dedicated training programs designed for non-expert users of AI, data and robotics systems. The Smart Droplets Consortium consists of all agricultural AI, data and robotics value chain actors, and is well balanced in terms of expertise, entity type, and geographical distribution necessary to meet its objectives. Smart Droplets will demonstrate how autonomous robotic platforms, innovative spraying, digital twin and AI models, can deliver environmental, economic, regulatory, business, scientific, and societal benefits, assisting in the achievement of Green Deal goals.