Governance

This work package is focused on the effective monitoring of ALLIANCE in administrative, technical, scientific and financial terms, as well as the adherence of the work to the overall project plan, available resources and timing. It also provides the necessary interface to the EU services and external actors, ensures the high quality of the project outcomes, and performs an effective risk management process. Additionally, it evaluates the project developments and makes sure they comply with the current privacy and data protection legislation. The tasks include administrative management, scientific and technological coordination, quality control, risk management, data management, and ethical and legal issues. The project is also required to comply with FAIR data management and GDPR requirements to ensure the privacy of personal data. The outputs of this work package will be periodic and final reports, collaborative tools, templates for collecting input, meetings, and a comprehensive report on the ethical and legal issues.

This work package aims to create a blockchain framework for increased traceability in organic, and geographical indications labelled food products, provide food actors with more visibility and situational awareness of the performance of quality-labelled food supply chains against strict standards, design and implement an interoperability framework to consolidate data sources and incorporate Internet of Things devices and rapid authenticity testing devices, design and implement a Vulnerability Risk Assessment Framework to assess Critical Control Points, and design and implement an Artificial Intelligence enabled Early Warning and Decision Support System. A Food Fraud Landscape and Gap Analysis will be conducted to highlight the technology impediments that create low-performance efficiency in food supply chains and identify strategic action to upgrade technology solutions and digitally transform food supply chains. A blockchain-based platform will be implemented to create resilient food supply chains that demonstrate the technological and organizational capacity to adapt and recover from situations that compromise food safety. An assessment of the possible vulnerability risks of quality-labelled FSCs and on the indication of critical control points that necessitate safety improvements will be performed. An Early Warning & Decision Support System will be provided, and it will use AI to the identify and assess critical control points in the quality-labelled FSCs and to proactively recommend interventions, making faster and adaptable decisions for mitigating food fraud incidences. Finally, an interoperable framework will be designed and developed; the framework will allow different platforms owned and operated by different stakeholders within the quality-labelled food chain to communicate and co-operate efficiently and allow products, resources and data to be managed in a trusted, secured and consistent way.

This work package aims to create a (digital) knowledge base and apply novel AI and ML techniques to prevent food fraud. It will conduct a strategic gap analysis to map the capabilities and assess the performance of quality-labelled Food Supply Chains (FSCs). The analysis will identify impediments and barriers, and plan targeted and strategic transformative upgrades of the quality-labelled FSCs to combat food fraud. It will also provide novel rapid and portable test technologies for identifying authenticity and detecting fraud on-site. The project will also create a Digital Knowledge Base and use portable devices for on-site rapid testing for the identification of adulteration and counterfeit in quality-labelled food products. A knowledge database will be created to accumulate the processed data and inference from the analysis results produced from the Vulnerability Risk Assessment Framework and Early Warning and Decision Support System. It will provide valuable assistance to food actors and the regulatory authorities on food quality and safety issues of fraud in quality labelled FSCs. Additionally, it will use data mining and statistics to identify hidden associations among the monitored FSC performance parameters and potential vulnerability risks. Lastly, a public acceptance survey will be conducted to monitor and assess consumers' view of products produced under the innovative traceability system.

The work package will design comprehensive scenarios for the ALLIANCE technologies, processes and frameworks, develop a pilot plan with short-term and long-term goals, and implement the demonstration activities. It includes four main use cases, such as PDO/PGI Extra Virgin Olive Oil Authenticity Validation, Safeguard PDO Feta Cheese, Fighting Fraud and Adulteration in Organic Honey, and AI-assisted NIR and HIS Rapid Testing for On-Site Verification of Authenticity of PGI Faba Beans. Additionally, there are four more use cases, such as Applying Smart-Contracts to fight Food Fraud in PGI Lika Potatoes, Organic Pasta: Combating Counterfeit with Rapid Pesticide Identification, Improved Traceability through a Blockchain-enabled PDO Arilje Raspberries Food Supply Chain, and Pilots Assessment, Lessons Learnt and User Acceptance Evaluation. Each use case will be tested with a variety of tools and technologies, such as IoT sensors, artificial intelligence, blockchain platforms, and isotopic techniques, to ensure food safety and prevent food fraud. A meso-economic analysis will also be conducted, to identify opportunities, risks, and uncertainties perceived by stakeholders in alternative traceability systems.

This WP establishes a systematic approach to close the circular food value chains proposed by the project. Introducing fully replicable methodologies to enhance circular and sustainable solutions for quality-labelled FSCs will form an essential part of disseminating the projects outcomes. WP5 will work in close cooperation with previous WPs, (mainly WP2, 3 and 4) to provide the requirements and to help directing selective operations in order to enhance the reusability of the proposed solutions towards fighting food fraud. The implication of downstream users is not only enhanced but it is considered essential both to identify market barriers in the different member states and to ascertain use in real quality labelled FSCs. In order to disseminate project outcomes and engage the community, a clear and distinctive brand identify for ALLIANCE will be defined, thus allowing to create broad visibility and raise awareness of the project, to effectively communicate to a broad audience and to establish liaisons with related activities to ensure wide participation. To this end, a project website will be created and relevant information will be shared through social media channels, production of research materials and promotional materials. To ensure awareness about the project’s work and results, foster engagement of target stakeholders and grow the overall ALLIANCE community, the consortium will organize dedicated events, including workshops and conferences, for disseminating and discussing the results and the activties of ALLIANCE. Innovation Management will efficiently monitor market needs and technical evolutions throughout ALLIANCE’s lifetime. It will also make sure that ALLIANCE work plan is adjusted as needed in order to implement its results in such a way that they best meet the needs of the market with the technologies available at the time. Finally, an ALLIANCE market platform will be developed, integrating services and associated technical support, and combining commercial exploitation and impact assessment.