CORDIS

In 2016, Andalusia (Spain) and South and Eastern Ireland, among others, were selected by the European Commission as two of the six model regions to lead the way toward a sustainable chemical industry in Europe. ICT-BIOCHAIN arises as a tool to capitalize the development of these two regions serving as two test-bed locations for the implementation of bio-based-DIH (Digital Innovation Hubs) focused on biomass mobilization. The main concept of the project is based on a structure with three key elements:
-Competence Centres: VTT Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT), Fraunhofer Institute of Material Flow and Logistics from Germany (IML) and Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Center, University of Strathclyde from Scotland (STR).
-Regional Facilitators: Institute of Technology of Tralee (ITT) and Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA).
-Regions: Andalusia and South East Ireland, represented by the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Sustainable Development of Andalusia (CAGPDS) and the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation (IBF), respectively.
The consolidation of two pilot DIHs (SE Ireland and Andalusia), is one of the core actions of the project. Both of the DIHs are following a multi-actor approach including primary producers, bio-based industries and ICT, IoT and Industry 4.0 specialists. Also, a platform will be designed where specific regional biomass data models will be integrated for the two test-bed locations.
The main issue addressed with ICT-BIOCHAIN is the lack of commercial opportunities for the use of ICT, IoT and Industry 4.0 dedicated to the efficiency of biomass supply chains. Also, the lack of reliable data will be overcome by the implementation of the mentioned platform, offering knowledge to a wide range of stakeholders and connecting this information with potential opportunities, providing capacitation for a wider implementation throughout Europe.
The pilot DIHs have the potential to push European bio-based economy to the forefront and to improve competitiveness. This is mainly due to a project consortium with a vast collaboration network.
The innovation in the value chains can be reached through the investment day event serving as a tool for the development of new business opportunities. It will unlock substantial volumes of unexploited biomass and will offer data to increase the knowledge of their profitability thus improving the awareness and trust of society in sustainable biomass valorisation. All this information will be disseminated by newsletters, videos and materials in several languages and will be tailor-made to target the public.
ICT-BIOCHAIN ’s overarching objective is to identify opportunities for using ICT to increase the efficiency of biomass supply chains for the bio-based industry. This will support Europe’s bio-based supply chains by helping make them more efficient. Specifically, it aims to:
-Establish multi-actor DIHs for biomass supply chains.
-Produce a feedstock-specific database of best practice and new opportunities where digitisation could improve the efficiency of biomass supply chains within Model Demonstrator Regions (MDRs).
-Establish a user-friendly online platform to allow for wider exploitation of ICT, IoT (Internet of Things) and Industry 4.0 tools for improving supply chain efficiency.
-Pave the way for replicating DIH in other EU bio-economy regions.
-Disseminate and exploit ICT-BIOCHAIN results.

After the Kick-off Meeting (28-29 June 2018) the governance method for the project consortium was established conducting monthly meetings to coordinate the implementation of the project. The Communication and Dissemination strategy was elaborated and the project website is running in English and Spanish since August 2018.
An exhaustive mapping of ICT, IoT and Industry 4.0 solutions and opportunities has been performed (D1.1.) which will serve as an input for the platform. Data collection within regions has started in order to implement the biomass data models.
The regional base-line for the DIHs has been described. A set of different barriers have been identified and an action plan for their mitigation has been implemented. The structure of both DIHs is established with SC members having signed their letters of intent for their participation. Telcos were carried out for organising the events and both took place on the 13th of June and the 4th of July for the Irish and the Andalusian DIHs. The launching of each DIH consisted in the Launching itself and a Knowledge Transfer event.
The project platform is being defined including the metadata model and it will serve as the first-of-its-kind, to store and share the information including regional biomass and waste resources, the potential sustainability and efficiency improvement to be made, and the state of the art of ICT, IoT and Industry 4.0 solutions. The objective of the platform is to provide a prototype, which will be tested and ready for further development to reach industrial operation level after the lifetime of the project. Also, different business model strategies have been studied.
Communication, dissemination and exploitation have been planned and several materials have been produced such as roll-up, brochures, website, Twitter, videos and newsletters. In order to maximize the impact of the project, a programme for regional transference to enhance the adoption in different EU regions is included: a roadmap tool, a train-the-trainer workshop and e-learning materials will be produced to trigger the replication.

ICT-BIOCHAIN contributes to the scientific knowledge by connecting ICT disciplines and its application in value chains. Additionally, it will contribute to the increase of cooperation across regions and different types of stakeholders through the implementation of the two pilot DIHs and their transference to other EU regions. Especially, it will enhance the cooperation between academia and industry assisted by the platform. Secondly, concerning the market and impact on industry, ICT-BIOCHAIN has specifically planned knowledge transfer events to showcase technologies to connect local and international competence centres enabling their collaboration. Also business opportunities and investment days will be key activities for increasing the competitiveness facilitating the implementation of new business opportunities and creating new markets. It is important to highlight the local component of the project, where biomass supply chains can potentially be established in rural areas fulfilling new business opportunities. Also, education and training activities will be performed by elaborating e-learning materials which will increase the awareness around the bioeconomy thus targeting a broad audience range. Policy recommendations and transference to regional policy makers will be addressed in the project through the direct participation of the Andalusian Regional Ministry and the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation. In this way, a set of policy recommendations is included in the description of the actions of the project. Indirectly, the project can contribute to the decrease of Green House Gases (GHG) emissions and to avoid the dependence on fossil fuels by releasing the potential of underused resources. The implementation of ICT technologies such as blockchain can potentially contribute to safer processes by implementing methods to ensure the biomass traceability.