Empowering a fair and responsible European FoodRegister, fostering citizen sovereignty and creating a data-driven food system.

Project Information

DRG4Food

Grant agreement ID: 101086523

DOI

10.3030/101086523

Project closed

EC signature date 17 October 2022

Start date 1 December 2022

End date 30 November 2025

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 4 000 000,00

EU contribution

€ 4 000 000,00

Coordinated by

TWINDS
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DRG4Food (Empowering a fair and responsible European FoodRegister, fostering citizen sovereignty and creating a data-driven food system.)

Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Food safety, security, sustainability, reduction of food waste and fairness throughout the food chain are at the heart of Europe’s food strategy. Digitally enhanced approaches to more transparency in the food chain are crucial. Under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2022-GOVERNANCE-01-10 - Piloting approaches and tools to empower citizens to exercise their “data rights” in the area of food and nutrition - the DRG4FOOD project developed and demonstrated a set of solutions including a roadmap and a structured open funding programme. To create a data-driven food system, the project set new standards by aligning with the European Digital Rights and Principles and the Digital Responsibility Goals. The consortium partners provided measures to guide and support the food ecosystem of third-party beneficiaries, citizens and stakeholders. Designing for trust, the project promoted values such as responsibility, privacy and user sovereignty.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

DRG4FOOD (December 2022 - November 2025) delivered the vision: To improve quality of life through an open, trustworthy, adaptive and conscious data approach along the food lifecycle.
Period 1 (Months 1-18):
• Digital Responsibility Framework 4 Food – Translation of Digital Responsibility Goals into food domain
• Digital Responsibility Toolbox – 170+ enablers for developers
• First Open Call – 85 applications, 4 pilot projects funded (EUR 926,865)
• Responsible Tech in Food Community founded
Period 2 (Months 19-36):
• Digital Responsibility Roadmap – Published based on five workshops (20-32 participants each), foresight analysis, scenario planning
• Policy Recommendations – Four policy briefs to ISO/IEC JTC1 SC42, ENISA, EuroFIR, CEN-CENELEC JTC 21
• Annual Digital Responsibility Reports – Three reports with concrete KPIs
• Second Open Call – 94 applications, 4 projects funded (EUR 973,135); total 8 pilots achieving TRL 4-6
• Scientific Publications – 5 scientific (1 peer-reviewed), 41 other publications, exceeding targets
• Standardization Workshop – Joint workshop with four EU projects (December 2024)
• Practice Abstracts – 28 uploaded to EIP-AGRI database in multiple languages
• Communication – 44 presentations, 8 webinars (1,700+ views), podcast, comic, Final Conference (Brussels, October 2025)
• Clustering – Data4Food cluster expanded; EU Cluster for Food Traceability and Trust (12 projects)
• Impact Documentation – 26 impacts across 9 strategic clusters
Key Outcomes: 160+ developer community members; 210 workshop participants; 39 network links; 179 applications; 8 completed pilot projects; 8 Ethics Advisory Board meetings with no outstanding risks.
All deliverables on time, milestones reached, midterm review passed.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

EO1: Empower citizens to exercise "data rights"
DRG4FOOD Toolbox and Digital Responsibility Playbook delivered verifiable open-source enablers meeting DRG requirements. Scientific Impact: 5 scientific publications (1 peer-reviewed), 41 other publications; introduced digital "trust" concept. Economic Impact: 8 pilot projects (TRL 4-6) demonstrated practical DRG application. Societal Impact: Podcast, comic, 8 webinars (1,700+ views), Final Conference enhanced citizen data awareness.
Key Needs: Sustained toolbox availability; standardization integration; developer community expansion; continued citizen engagement.
EO2: Pilot digital solutions with enhanced data protection
Two Open Calls: 179 applications, 8 projects funded (EUR 1,900,000). Scientific Impact: Publications; Gaia-X liaison; Data4Food cluster; EU Cluster for Food Traceability and Trust (12 projects). Economic Impact: New business models; Matchmaking Service as Key Exploitable Result; viability assessments. Societal Impact: 44 presentations, 66 events; coaching created sustainable jobs.
Key Needs: Commercialization support; follow-up funding; Open Call methodology integration; Matchmaking Service expansion; sustained clustering; sector replication.
EO3: Advance alternative data sharing approaches
Comprehensive roadmap from concept to implementation. Scientific Impact: Map&gap analysis (17 experts); foresight workshops; standardization workshop (four EU projects); Digital Responsibility Roadmap (five workshops, 210 participants); four policy briefs. Economic Impact: Toolbox baseline technologies; decentral business models; 39 stakeholder network links. Societal Impact: Three Annual Reports with KPIs; 28 Practice Abstracts; policy recommendations.
Key Needs: Policy recommendation adoption; expanded demonstration; Food2030 integration; enabling regulatory frameworks; follow-up research; internationalization.
Cross-Cutting Needs: Further research; demonstration expansion; market/finance access; commercialization; IPR support; internationalization; regulatory/standardization frameworks; community engagement (160+ members); modular framework knowledge transfer; impact monitoring.
Project's modular approach enables reuse, scaling, and combination in post-project contexts