Shaping the Future of Traceability & Big Data

The Traceability & Big Data in the agrifood value chain (T&BD) S3 Thematic Partnership concluded a comprehensive regional mapping survey aimed at aligning interregional cooperation with the concrete strengths and needs of its member ecosystems. The findings, synthesized from Regional Authorities, Business Support Organizations (BSOs), and Research-Performing Organizations (RPOs), provide a strategic orientation for the digital transformation of the European agrifood value chain thanks to a targeted collaboration among its key stakeholders.

Key Conclusions: A Synergy of Competencies

The report highlights a significant alignment between regional Smart Specialization Strategies (S3/S4) and T&BD goals, particularly regarding sustainability and ICT integration along agrifood value chains. A major conclusion is the existence of complementary expertise across the three key stakeholder groups, which can be pooled to enhance cooperation opportunities with a concrete impact on the partnership’s Working Areas (WA):

• Regional Authorities prioritize WA4—Open Data, interoperability, and information security—as essential for regional governance and strategy.
• BSOs demonstrate high proficiency in WA3 (incorporating consumer experience) and WA4, acting as bridges for SMEs to adopt digital tools.
• RPOs offer the strongest expertise in WA1 (lifecycles of the value chain) and WA2 (smart monitoring), providing the technical foundation for precision agriculture and circular bioeconomy.

This distribution of knowledge suggests that the partnership is well-positioned to drive innovation if these actors collaborate effectively.

Future Opportunities: Collaborative Innovation

The survey identifies a strong appetite for interregional cooperation through European funding instruments. The Interreg Europe Programme and Horizon Europe (specifically Research and Innovation Actions) emerged as the most favored vehicles for future collaboration.

A pivotal opportunity lies in the establishment of a T&BD Community of Learning. RPOs are envisioned as the orchestrators of this initiative, which could focus on high-impact topics, such as advanced traceability using blockchain and IoT, AI and Digital Twins for predictive modeling in sustainable food production and in the bioeconomy, the development of a European federated data space for agrifood.

Furthermore, the willingness of 18 organizations to take on "Lead Partner" roles in EU projects has the potential to accelerate the transition from theoretical networking to concrete, investment-oriented action.

Overcoming Critical Challenges

Despite the optimism, the report outlines some challenges that need to be properly tackled:

1. Financial Constraints: The lack of dedicated funding for S3 Partnerships is a primary barrier. Participation often relies on the "commitment of targeted regional resources" rather than specific EU support schemes for the partnership itself.
2. The "Skills Gap" and Cultural Factors: BSOs identified a lack of internal specialized competencies within companies and a cultural resistance among primary producers as significant obstacles to digital uptake.
3. Operational Overlap: There is a perceived overlap between different agrifood thematic partnerships, which can lead to a dilution of focus and duplicated efforts. Therefore, alignment among the partnerships of the S3 Agrifood platform would be important.
4. Resource Limitations: Regional authorities, in particular, struggle with a shortage of human resources to manage these non-institutional tasks.

The Way Forward

To ensure long-term success, the T&BD partnership must focus on communicating tangible benefits to its members. This includes promoting B2B matchmaking, increasing the visibility of successful pilot projects, and cooperatively accessing to complex EU funding instruments like the I3.

By bridging the gap between research excellence and business application, the T&BD partnership can transform the European agrifood sector into a more resilient, transparent, and data-driven ecosystem in the agrifood domain.

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T&BD summarized mapping report: read here