Context
The importance of value creation through data and the opportunities and challenges facing the agri-food sector at regional and national level across the European Union calls for a specific effort to create a prospective vision and coordinated actions that reinforce a sustainable and competitive food chain. Given the complexity of the food chain, even restricted to the improvement of traceability and the role of big data, requires from an operational viewpoint to limit the scope and goals, to identify where interregional cooperation can create most value, and to focus on them to boost sustainability and efficiency of the agri-food value chain in the EU.
In response to the S3 Platform call to promote interregional cooperation and the creation of thematic partnerships (June 2016), DG REGIO entrusted the Region of Andalusia the task to initiate and coordinate the development of a thematic network oriented towards the “Traceability and Big Data "of the agrifood value chain.
Year established: 2016
Regions (lead and partner)
- Leading regions: Andalusia (ES), Emilia Romagna (IT)
- Participating regions:
- Direct participation through the regional government: Aragon (ES), Basque Country (ES), Bretagne (FR), Central Macedonia (EL), Cork County Council (IE), Extremadura (ES), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (IT), Galicia (ES), Hadjú-Bihar (HU), Limburg (NL), Middle Black Sea (TR), Navarra (ES), Northern Ostrobothnia (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa ) (FI), Nouvelle Aquitaine (FR), Occitanie (FR), Pays de la Loire (FR), Pazardzhik (BG), Sardinia (IT), Satakunta (FI), South Ostrobothnia (FI), South Savo (FI), South Transdanubia (HU).
- Regions involved through independent associated partners: West Holland (NL), Gelderland (NL), Central Slovenia (SI), North Portugal (PT), Lisboa (PT), North West Romania (RO), Northern Ireland (UK), Centro (PT), Lazio (IT)
Mission
The mission of the S3P Traceability & Big Data in the agrifood value chain (hereinafter, S3P Traceability and Big Data or T&BD) is to set-up a successful partnership framework towards the digitalisation of the agri-food value chain using digital technologies and additionally, to generate value out of data and bring more efficiency, a better balance and transparency to the agri-food value chains. T&BD will contribute to promoting interregional cooperation with the aim to adopt data-driven business models and reinforce competitiveness and more balanced agri-food value chains in Europe. To that end, the partnership will encourage smart specialisation investments through joint demonstration projects to increase public and private funding in this area by promoting new interregional agri-food value chains.
Objectives
- Improving the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the agri-food sector.
- Accelerating adoption of ICT, improved data management and interoperability in the agri-food sector.
- Fostering data-driven innovation at all stages of the agri-food value chain.
- Developing new business models and market opportunities and quality job creation.
- Improving the synergies between public institutions, knowledge agents, civil society entities, farmers and companies and promoting cooperation.
- Sharing best practices in agrifood value chain based on the digital economy.
- Promoting the incorporation of the agrifood sector into ICTs and the digital economy.
Main activities
T&BD is focused on four thematic areas defined through a process of joint mapping of needs and challenges, following a bottom-up approach, involving all the participants in the value chain experts, both at regional and interregional level. These thematic areas are:
- Smart monitoring of the value chain
- Lifecycles of the value chain
- Open data, interoperability, data governance and cybersecurity
- Consumer experience in decision-making processes
Additionally, three Working Groups have been set up to work on specific areas of interest:
- Interoperability
- Traceability & Big Data in the Circular Bioeconomy
- Road Map (transversal group to map resources and define the Partnership action plan)
Organisations involved
T&BD counts on the direct involvement of 24 European regions and 13 Associated Partners. The regions also involve their quadruple helix stakeholders, through regional nodes, in the Partnership activities. This means that around 2000 stakeholders are involved in T&BD, creating a wide network for cooperation in favour of the digitalization of the agrifood value chain.
Specifically, the Associated Partners are:
France
- ASOI (FR)
Italy
- AGRIGO (IT)
- Cluster Agrifood Nazionale (IT)
Portugal
- Agrocluster Ribatejo (PT)
- CENSE (PT)
- INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (PT)
- Innovisa (PT)
- ISQL (PT)
Romania
- Agrotransilvania Cluster (RO)
Slovenia
- ICT Innovation Network (SI)
The Netherlands
- Greenport West-Holland (NL)
- Wageningen University (NL)
United Kingdom
- AFBI Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (UK)
Shared smart specialisation areas
Digitalisation of the agrifood value chain, sustainability, circular bioeconomy, knowledge transfer.
Related projects
- AGRIDATAVALUE, Horizon Europe, aims to establish itself as the “Game Changer” in Smart Farming digital transformation and agri-environmental monitoring, and strengthen the smart-farming capacities, competitiveness and fair income by introducing an innovative, open source, intelligent and multi-technology, fully distributed Agri-Environment Data Space.
- Hub Iberia Agrotech (HIBA and HIBA+), Interreg POCTEP, two projects aiming at building a multiregional ecosystem devoted to the agrifood sector through Digital Innovation Hubs.
- CIRCOLIVE, Eramus+, is dedicated to developing skills for introducing circular business models and digital technologies in the olive oil sector.
- RE-GREENHOUSE, Interreg NEW, aims to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy production in greenhouses.
- FOODIS, Interreg VI-A IT-AT, develops the capacity to absorb innovations and introduce circular processes in the value chains of the food sector.
- TRACK, COSME, aimed to create an interregional ecosystem to stimulate new innovative solutions fitting specific requirements of agrifood chain, and joint investments towards an advanced agrifood industry 4.0.
- REGIONS4FOOD, Interreg Europe, aimed at innovation-driven growth of the food industry, using information, data, and cognitive technologies.
- SMARTAGRIHUBS, H2020, unleashing the innovation potential for the digital transformation of the European agrifood sector through Digital Innovation Hubs.
- DIVA, H2020, aimed to provide support to the emergence and development of new industrial digitech value chains with applications to the agro-food, forestry and environment sectors.
- DATA FLOW, DG GROW-Interregional Innovation Project, aimed to improve the traceability of the products and strengthen the final stages of the value chain to empower farmers and consumers. It had two business cases: #Leaveyourfootprint and Naturecode.
- COMPLAT, DG REGIO, Technical Assistance Facility. The European Agri-Food Communication Platform’s (ComPlat) vision is to be the leading fair and transparent communication solution for the European agri-food industry, a tool that shortens the final stages of the value chain, and a platform that improves communication and decision-making process across the sector.
Contact
- Mariam Cátedra, Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, mariam.catedra@juntadeandalucia.es
- Armando Martínez, Junta de Andalucía, armando.martinez.v@juntadeandalucia.es
- Traceability & Big Data Technical Coordination Team, dataagris3@juntadeandalucia.es