Periodic Reporting for period 2 - METROFOOD-PP (METROFOOD-RI Preparatory Phase Project)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-06-01 al 2022-05-31
METROFOOD-RI is a pan-European Research Infrastructure aimed at promoting metrology in food and nutrition included as “Project” in the ESFRI Roadmap 2018 for the domain Health and Food. It provides high-quality metrology services in food and nutrition and comprises an important cross-section of highly interdisciplinary and interconnected fields throughout the food value chain.
The agrifood sector is a strategic asset of all European Countries and one of the largest and most important economic sectors, with particular social relevance. Food quality and authenticity have now become a focus of consumers’ requirements all over the world; food traceability and safety are key factors to ensure food quality and to protect consumers’ and producer’s interests. High-quality data on the food chain are of fundamental importance to populate the expanding data technologies with useful contents and, according to the FAIR principles (i.e.: to make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), enable advanced research on food and food metrology, thinking at metrology in its wide sense of “science of measurements”.
METROFOOD-RI, as a research infrastructure, can conduct and support top-level research activities in this domain through its mission to enhance quality and reliability of measurement results and make available and share data, information, and metrological tools. The scientific offer is addressed to a broad set of users, such as: researchers/academics; food business operators; policy makers, food inspection and control agencies; consumers/citizens.
METROFOOD-PP represents the project supporting the Preparatory Phase of the infrastructure, with the purpose to make the infrastructure legally, financially, and technically mature, ready to be implemented and operational. To this end, the following specific objectives were identified: organise the legal entity that will manage the future infrastructure; technically organise the infrastructure as service-oriented organisation and define its operational standards; strategically define the long-term activities.
The agrifood sector is a strategic asset of all European Countries and one of the largest and most important economic sectors, with particular social relevance. Food quality and authenticity have now become a focus of consumers’ requirements all over the world; food traceability and safety are key factors to ensure food quality and to protect consumers’ and producer’s interests. High-quality data on the food chain are of fundamental importance to populate the expanding data technologies with useful contents and, according to the FAIR principles (i.e.: to make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), enable advanced research on food and food metrology, thinking at metrology in its wide sense of “science of measurements”.
METROFOOD-RI, as a research infrastructure, can conduct and support top-level research activities in this domain through its mission to enhance quality and reliability of measurement results and make available and share data, information, and metrological tools. The scientific offer is addressed to a broad set of users, such as: researchers/academics; food business operators; policy makers, food inspection and control agencies; consumers/citizens.
METROFOOD-PP represents the project supporting the Preparatory Phase of the infrastructure, with the purpose to make the infrastructure legally, financially, and technically mature, ready to be implemented and operational. To this end, the following specific objectives were identified: organise the legal entity that will manage the future infrastructure; technically organise the infrastructure as service-oriented organisation and define its operational standards; strategically define the long-term activities.
To achieve its objectives, METROFOOD-PP consortium acted on three main levels: building METROFOOD-RI; structuring METROFOOD-RI; strategic planning.
To organise the future legal entity, activities were focused on legal and administrative aspects, such as: definition of the legal requirements to set up the ERIC; preparation of the necessary contracts; definition of the management and organizational structure; elaboration of the financial plan and cost book; definition of the business plan. Policy documents for the ERIC were elaborated, with reference to intellectual property rights, procurement, dissemination, human resource, data management, access, and scientific evaluation.
For the operational framework, the overall working model of METROFOOD-RI as distributed infrastructure was defined focusing on the specification of the roles of the Central Hub and National Nodes and how the different components relate and interact. The infrastructure architecture for both the physical and the electronic component was technically defined, identifying the synopsis and key requirements of the physical facilities (analytical laboratories, plants for Reference Material production, experimental fields/farms/plants for food primary production and processing, and kitchen labs) and elaborating the plans for their integration within the physical component and with the electronic one. Specifically for the e-RI, the Data Management Plan was defined, along with the specification of its architecture and components, data models, and APIs for the different data domains. Use cases for physical, remote, and virtual access were defined and transnational access was provided to users by launching dedicated calls. To organize the service provision, the procedures and responsibilities were defined, and the service chart was elaborated. Finally, activities were performed to define the quality and security management system.
For the strategic framework, activities were performed to ensure that the infrastructure will deliver an integrated understanding of the main scientific issues related to metrology in food and nutrition and address the key societal challenges associated with the agrifood system. As final output, the “Research & Innovation Agenda” was delivered and the workflow for its monitoring and periodic update defined. Potential links with other major European and global infrastructures and organisations were examined to better position METROFOOD-RI in the current landscape, along with strategies for collaboration with industries and networking at a global level. Furthermore, to evaluate the socio-economic impact of the infrastructure, Key Performance Indicators were defined along with methodologies for impact assessment and monitoring and strategies for impact communication. As for risk evaluation, the analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) and of social, technological, economic, environmental, political, values (STEEP) were completed, and TOWS action plans defined, thus elaborating the “risks and contingency plans”. Finally, actions to enhance the user engagement were taken and the “user engagement and communication strategy” elaborated.
Specific activities were carried out to ensure a proper communication of the project outcomes and the infrastructure, and the Plan for Dissemination and Exploitation of Results was prepared and updated. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and related sanitary restrictions, the plan was revised reconsidering the organization of some initiative or boosting the improvement of on-line solutions.
To organise the future legal entity, activities were focused on legal and administrative aspects, such as: definition of the legal requirements to set up the ERIC; preparation of the necessary contracts; definition of the management and organizational structure; elaboration of the financial plan and cost book; definition of the business plan. Policy documents for the ERIC were elaborated, with reference to intellectual property rights, procurement, dissemination, human resource, data management, access, and scientific evaluation.
For the operational framework, the overall working model of METROFOOD-RI as distributed infrastructure was defined focusing on the specification of the roles of the Central Hub and National Nodes and how the different components relate and interact. The infrastructure architecture for both the physical and the electronic component was technically defined, identifying the synopsis and key requirements of the physical facilities (analytical laboratories, plants for Reference Material production, experimental fields/farms/plants for food primary production and processing, and kitchen labs) and elaborating the plans for their integration within the physical component and with the electronic one. Specifically for the e-RI, the Data Management Plan was defined, along with the specification of its architecture and components, data models, and APIs for the different data domains. Use cases for physical, remote, and virtual access were defined and transnational access was provided to users by launching dedicated calls. To organize the service provision, the procedures and responsibilities were defined, and the service chart was elaborated. Finally, activities were performed to define the quality and security management system.
For the strategic framework, activities were performed to ensure that the infrastructure will deliver an integrated understanding of the main scientific issues related to metrology in food and nutrition and address the key societal challenges associated with the agrifood system. As final output, the “Research & Innovation Agenda” was delivered and the workflow for its monitoring and periodic update defined. Potential links with other major European and global infrastructures and organisations were examined to better position METROFOOD-RI in the current landscape, along with strategies for collaboration with industries and networking at a global level. Furthermore, to evaluate the socio-economic impact of the infrastructure, Key Performance Indicators were defined along with methodologies for impact assessment and monitoring and strategies for impact communication. As for risk evaluation, the analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) and of social, technological, economic, environmental, political, values (STEEP) were completed, and TOWS action plans defined, thus elaborating the “risks and contingency plans”. Finally, actions to enhance the user engagement were taken and the “user engagement and communication strategy” elaborated.
Specific activities were carried out to ensure a proper communication of the project outcomes and the infrastructure, and the Plan for Dissemination and Exploitation of Results was prepared and updated. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and related sanitary restrictions, the plan was revised reconsidering the organization of some initiative or boosting the improvement of on-line solutions.
METROFOOD-PP represents a key step in its establishment as an actual and effective operational research infrastructure and service-oriented organisation, sustainable according to its long-term programme and able to deliver services to all the interested users for generating, disseminating, and sharing knowledge, boosting technological development for the benefit of the society, and tackling challenges in the health and food domain. METROFOOD-PP impacts will benefit several target groups, such as: the infrastructure user community, Food Business Operators, food inspection and control agencies, ministries, policy makers, funding agencies, the scientific community, and the civil society.
Considering the specific role of the project in the lifecycle of METROFOOD-RI, the most important aspect to be taken into consideration is that the complete package of the activities allowed the preparation of the 1st step application for the ERIC and the definition of a robust long-term vision for METROFOOD-RI as a first-class, organised and sustainable infrastructure, able to provide transnational access and cutting-edge services, thus enabling the actual realization of the infrastructure socio-economic impact, covering: the promotion of the acceleration of scientific discovery, innovation, competitiveness, economic and social cohesion; data access, integration, interoperability; education, training, and mobility of researchers. METROFOOD-RI will empower research to accelerate progress in scientific technology and discovery, supporting food quality & safety, traceability, food transparency, circular bioeconomy, agrifood systems’ sustainibility and resilience, digitalisation, agroecological transition, and healthier diets.
Considering the specific role of the project in the lifecycle of METROFOOD-RI, the most important aspect to be taken into consideration is that the complete package of the activities allowed the preparation of the 1st step application for the ERIC and the definition of a robust long-term vision for METROFOOD-RI as a first-class, organised and sustainable infrastructure, able to provide transnational access and cutting-edge services, thus enabling the actual realization of the infrastructure socio-economic impact, covering: the promotion of the acceleration of scientific discovery, innovation, competitiveness, economic and social cohesion; data access, integration, interoperability; education, training, and mobility of researchers. METROFOOD-RI will empower research to accelerate progress in scientific technology and discovery, supporting food quality & safety, traceability, food transparency, circular bioeconomy, agrifood systems’ sustainibility and resilience, digitalisation, agroecological transition, and healthier diets.