Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FishEUTrust (European integration of new technologies and social-economic solutions for increasing consumer trust and engagement in seafood products)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-06-01 al 2023-11-30
Seafood contributes significantly to global animal protein production, with aquaculture being a major source. However, there remains a lack of integration regarding research and development, i.e. the focus on technical aspects rather than environmental and social considerations. Also, as the Eurobarometer highlights, consumers are concerned about the origin and transparency of fishery and aquaculture products, confirming that the EU, the world's largest fish importer of seafood, faces issues of trust and a lack of information.
At the heart of FishEUTrust is a common platform linking technology providers, supply chain stakeholders, and regulatory/policy actors. FishEUTrust has established five Co-creation Living Labs (CLLs) in the Mediterranean Basin, the North and the Atlantic seas to enable user involvement in innovation and development processes. These CLLs act as demonstrators to test and validate digital and non-digital supply chain solutions, including business models, protecting cultural and culinary heritage, creating short food supply chains, and exploiting underused fish species. These CLLs will also be used to tailor intervention strategies to stimulate behavioral change and develop tools that guarantee seafood products' quality, safety, and traceability. These aims will be achieved through smart control systems (sensors) and by integrating metagenomics, genetic biomarkers, isotopic techniques and digital technologies (Product Passport and Blockchain). FishEUTrust will conclude by performing an integrated impact assessment and life cycle analysis to quantify the impact of the FishEUTrust project.
At the heart of FishEUTrust is a common platform linking technology providers, supply chain stakeholders, and regulatory/policy actors. FishEUTrust has established five Co-creation Living Labs (CLLs) in the Mediterranean Basin, the North and the Atlantic seas to enable user involvement in innovation and development processes. These CLLs act as demonstrators to test and validate digital and non-digital supply chain solutions, including business models, protecting cultural and culinary heritage, creating short food supply chains, and exploiting underused fish species. These CLLs will also be used to tailor intervention strategies to stimulate behavioral change and develop tools that guarantee seafood products' quality, safety, and traceability. These aims will be achieved through smart control systems (sensors) and by integrating metagenomics, genetic biomarkers, isotopic techniques and digital technologies (Product Passport and Blockchain). FishEUTrust will conclude by performing an integrated impact assessment and life cycle analysis to quantify the impact of the FishEUTrust project.
FishEUTrust achieved all its objectives during this reporting period. All planned deliverables (12 out of 43 in total) were on time, and milestones (9 out of 20 in total) were reached. The project remains well-positioned to continue delivering on its goals and commitments. The key activities and main achievements are related to specific objectives as follows:
Set up and operationalize co-creation Living Labs (LLs) to link, coordinate, engage key stakeholders, and enable real-life testing, validation, and demonstration, where:
• an integrated map of LLs stakeholders and analysis were completed,
• LLs and drafted best practice and operational protocols were established and
• inclusive EU-level LL created.
Design and validate a tailored set of intervention strategies to stimulate behavioural change, increase consumer trust, and promote FishEUTrust products and solutions, where:
• consumer expectations were mapped along with key characteristics of consumer group(s) and
• homogeneous clusters (groups) of consumers for target countries were established.
Develop and exploit efficient and sustainable digital supply chains and business models, where:
• a baseline model of processes and information flows in the seafood value chain in standardized BPMN (Business Process Model Notation) were created,
• a comprehensive study of relevant documentation related to EU legal requirements on sustainability, particularly in the context of food labeling were completed,
• an exploitation strategy and an Exploitation and IP Catalog established, SMEs' participation in the Horizon IP Scan supported, and a series of Intellectual Protection Property (IPR) Webinars prepared.
Develop an advanced suite of tools for testing seafood quality, safety, and traceability within the supply chain, integrating different analytical approaches (microbiome, genetic biomarkers, stable isotopes), where:
• Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) for sampling, DNA extraction and processing of samples for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based metagenomics, stable isotope and elemental analysis were established together with in-house FISH-EU-TrustBase and IsoFoodTrack database (www.isofoodtrack.ijs.si) for integration of FishEUTrust seafood data.
Deliver a smart control system for monitoring the quality (freshness) and biological (pathogens) and chemical (antibiotics, toxins) safety across the supply chain, where:
• a nanostructured sensor platform was validated,
• a novel sensor toolkit for detecting pathogens was demonstrated and validated,
• optimal materials for electrochemical chemotransistors for a freshness sensor were identified and
• aptasensors for detecting toxins were produced and tested.
Deliver integrated impact assessments to quantify the environmental footprint, sustainability, and socio-economic benefits of FishEUTrust approaches, support regulation and policy framework, where:
• a data collection and analysis template to support an integrated sustainability assessment were created and initial data collected.
Deliver integrated technologies for a transparent seafood supply chain and digital solutions for increasing consumer awareness, trust, and empowerment, where:
• the approach for creating the FishEUTrust digital platform was defined,
• available semantic resources for annotating project data with metadata and semantic data integration, including developing a new methodology for identifying and extracting related entities of interest were explored and
• the basis for gamification were established.
Set up and operationalize co-creation Living Labs (LLs) to link, coordinate, engage key stakeholders, and enable real-life testing, validation, and demonstration, where:
• an integrated map of LLs stakeholders and analysis were completed,
• LLs and drafted best practice and operational protocols were established and
• inclusive EU-level LL created.
Design and validate a tailored set of intervention strategies to stimulate behavioural change, increase consumer trust, and promote FishEUTrust products and solutions, where:
• consumer expectations were mapped along with key characteristics of consumer group(s) and
• homogeneous clusters (groups) of consumers for target countries were established.
Develop and exploit efficient and sustainable digital supply chains and business models, where:
• a baseline model of processes and information flows in the seafood value chain in standardized BPMN (Business Process Model Notation) were created,
• a comprehensive study of relevant documentation related to EU legal requirements on sustainability, particularly in the context of food labeling were completed,
• an exploitation strategy and an Exploitation and IP Catalog established, SMEs' participation in the Horizon IP Scan supported, and a series of Intellectual Protection Property (IPR) Webinars prepared.
Develop an advanced suite of tools for testing seafood quality, safety, and traceability within the supply chain, integrating different analytical approaches (microbiome, genetic biomarkers, stable isotopes), where:
• Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) for sampling, DNA extraction and processing of samples for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based metagenomics, stable isotope and elemental analysis were established together with in-house FISH-EU-TrustBase and IsoFoodTrack database (www.isofoodtrack.ijs.si) for integration of FishEUTrust seafood data.
Deliver a smart control system for monitoring the quality (freshness) and biological (pathogens) and chemical (antibiotics, toxins) safety across the supply chain, where:
• a nanostructured sensor platform was validated,
• a novel sensor toolkit for detecting pathogens was demonstrated and validated,
• optimal materials for electrochemical chemotransistors for a freshness sensor were identified and
• aptasensors for detecting toxins were produced and tested.
Deliver integrated impact assessments to quantify the environmental footprint, sustainability, and socio-economic benefits of FishEUTrust approaches, support regulation and policy framework, where:
• a data collection and analysis template to support an integrated sustainability assessment were created and initial data collected.
Deliver integrated technologies for a transparent seafood supply chain and digital solutions for increasing consumer awareness, trust, and empowerment, where:
• the approach for creating the FishEUTrust digital platform was defined,
• available semantic resources for annotating project data with metadata and semantic data integration, including developing a new methodology for identifying and extracting related entities of interest were explored and
• the basis for gamification were established.
Four results need to be mentioned:
The AI workflow for generating a Food-Chemical-Disease Knowledge Graph (KG) represents a significant advancement in structuring and organizing food-health-related information. It offers valuable insights for researchers and will impact various industries, making it appealing to business partners and investors. Similar approaches already exist on the market.
The highly reliable screen-printed manufacturing process for fabricating electrodes tailored for fish sample biosensing will lead to low-cost production of biosensors. Targeting the aquaculture and fisheries and end-users, it holds high scientific and business potential. To bring this technology to fruition, prototyping in a laboratory environment is crucial, as is refining and validating its application. The market is experiencing a growing demand, coupled with a scarcity of supply.
The Integrative test tools and sensors for pathogen bacteria offer rapid and specific detection capabilities with high scientific and regulatory potential. These tools, designed for EU institutions, researchers, industry partners, innovators, and end users, could revolutionize pathogen detection. Prototyping at the laboratory level has been successfully tested, and now the tools need to be upscaled to real application and demonstrated at the CLLs.
The Smart IoT-Based Digital Fish Farming System, a scientific testbed for data collection and dataset creation, presents high scientific and technological potential. Researchers, industry partners, and innovators can leverage this system for advancements in fish farming practices. Moreover, a supportive regulatory framework will be crucial for widespread adoption and commercial success.
The final report will encompass an overview of results, highlighting the technology's potential and identifying critical needs for future success.
The AI workflow for generating a Food-Chemical-Disease Knowledge Graph (KG) represents a significant advancement in structuring and organizing food-health-related information. It offers valuable insights for researchers and will impact various industries, making it appealing to business partners and investors. Similar approaches already exist on the market.
The highly reliable screen-printed manufacturing process for fabricating electrodes tailored for fish sample biosensing will lead to low-cost production of biosensors. Targeting the aquaculture and fisheries and end-users, it holds high scientific and business potential. To bring this technology to fruition, prototyping in a laboratory environment is crucial, as is refining and validating its application. The market is experiencing a growing demand, coupled with a scarcity of supply.
The Integrative test tools and sensors for pathogen bacteria offer rapid and specific detection capabilities with high scientific and regulatory potential. These tools, designed for EU institutions, researchers, industry partners, innovators, and end users, could revolutionize pathogen detection. Prototyping at the laboratory level has been successfully tested, and now the tools need to be upscaled to real application and demonstrated at the CLLs.
The Smart IoT-Based Digital Fish Farming System, a scientific testbed for data collection and dataset creation, presents high scientific and technological potential. Researchers, industry partners, and innovators can leverage this system for advancements in fish farming practices. Moreover, a supportive regulatory framework will be crucial for widespread adoption and commercial success.
The final report will encompass an overview of results, highlighting the technology's potential and identifying critical needs for future success.