Strengthening of the Italian Research Infrastructure for Metrology and Open Access Data in support to the Agrifood – METROFOOD-IT

Funder: Project funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2, Investment 3.1 – Call for tender N. 3264 of 28/12/2021 of Italian Ministry of University and Research funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU

Award Number: Project code IR0000033, Concession Decree N. 120 of 21/06/2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, CUP I83c22001040006, Project title “Strengthening of the Italian Research Infrastructure for Metrology and Open Access Data in support to the Agrifood” (METROFOOD-IT)

Start date: 01/09/2022

End date: 28/02/2025

Total NRRP funding for the whole project: € 17.790.000

Total NRRP funding for Unipr: € 2.140.000

Objectives

METROFOOD-IT objective is to strengthen the Italian research infrastructure for metrology and open access data in support to the agrifood. In detail, the project aims to support research and innovation in the agrifood by providing integrated services, boosting the digitalization, efficiency, traceability, and sustainability, increasing the reliability of products, processes and information provided. Furthermore, the project aims to strengthen the existing ESFRI METROFOOD-RI infrastructure, focusing on the electronic integration with the physical components, making it fully operational and sustainable in the long-run.

To achieve this mission, 6 specific objectives have been identified:

• Fully implement the RI in its physical and electronic components, organise it as service-oriented organisation and define its operational standards
• Implement an open data platform, a cloud infrastructure for data integration and analysis and an integrated system of ICT solutions applied to the agrifood, and ensure long term FAIR data access
• Define the service chart and implement the service provision by providing transnational (physical and remote) and virtual access to advanced and efficient services, enabling interdisciplinary research for the agrifood
• Liaise and clustering with other relevant RIs and NRRP initiatives for a better integration in the landscape and the realisation of a connected ecosystem, thus increasing the impact
• Promote user and stakeholder engagement in a co-creation approach for better meeting user demand and ensure outreach and training of the community of stakeholders beyond researchers, to enable them in the best use of the research facilities and services offered
• Set up the management and organisational structure of the infrastructure, define its business plan and the strategies and roadmap for its self-sustainability.

By implementing these objectives, the project aims at building a sustainable offer of services that will deliver a wide, customised, and integrated access to state-of-the art facilities, data, and modelling scenarios through a common portal. The integrated platform of ICT systems will make it possible to additionally achieve the following objectives related to the agrifood:

• Promote transparency (especially among micro-enterprises and SMEs), increase the sustainability and resilience of agrifood systems and improve production processes’ performance
• Reduce the vulnerability of production chains to fraud and sophistication, demonstrating and communicating the origin and authenticity of raw materials and products
• Improve food safety, food defence, food quality and production processes’ control systems, through the identification and integration of tools to be adopted in the various supply chains
• Support policy makers and inspection and control agencies in promoting and demonstrating food transparency, also inspiring policy development
• Increase consumer awareness and confidence in the production systems, encouraging the adoption of healthier and more sustainable diets.

Activities

The achievement of the specific objectives requires different types of activities related to technical, legal, management, logistical, governance, and financial work organized into 10 Work Packages (WPs):

• WP1 – Project Management
• WP2 – Upgrading of the physical infrastructure
• WP3 – e-infrastructure upgrading, data platform and ICT integration
• WP4 – Data Management and quality management
• WP5 – Services and access provision
• WP6 – Community building and users’ engagement
• WP7 – Open innovation hub
• WP8 – Training and education
• WP9 – Governance, business plan, and long-term sustainability
• WP10 – Outreach, dissemination, and exploitation of results

The University of Parma will support the enhancement of the digital and physical components of the research infrastructure and integrate them to offer services for the digital transformation of the agrifood sector. Furthermore, it will contribute to improving the physical component of the research infrastructure, including high-resolution mass spectrometry platform dedicated mainly to metabolomics, an ultra- performance liquid chromatography system and plate reader for ELISA assays, and finally a thermal imaging system for evaluating the efficiency of heat treatment processes in the food industry. The physical component will be integrated with the electronic one as regards the development and cross-validation of smart sensors for the design of “e-tongue and e-nose” as "intelligent" devices that mimic human senses. These devices will be implemented on portable multi-channel electronic platforms designed according to the 'Internet of Things' (IoT) paradigm and on "Artificial Intelligence" algorithms to provide services to support the digitization of the agri-food system. The integration of the IoT electronic platform into a cloud infrastructure will ultimately enable the development of a digital control chain for monitoring the performance of food industry processes.

Specifically, the University of Parma will support various research activities listed in the following work packages:

• WP2 – Research activities will involve the Analytical Smart Sensor Unit and the Food Process Control Unit
• WP3 – Research activities will involve the Analytical Smart Sensor Unit and the Computer Science and Electronic Sensor Unit
• WP8 – Activities will be focused on promoting scientific excellence in metrology for food quality, authenticity, and safety

• Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability (Prof. Maria Careri)
• Department of Engineering and Architecture (Prof. Ilaria De Munari, Prof. Sara Rainieri)

The partners involved in the METROFOOD-IT project are as follows:

• ENEA - Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile
• Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
• Università degli Studi di Siena
• Università degli Studi di Parma
• Sapienza - Università di Roma
• Università degli Studi di Bari - Aldo Moro
• Università degli Studi del Molise
• INRIM - Istituto Nazionale di ricerca Metrologica

METROFOOD-IT will work to accelerate scientific discovery, innovation, competitiveness, growth, and job creation, as well as promote economic and social cohesion. These are all essential components of sustainable development, as stated in the Lisbon Strategy. It will contribute to a new research approach allowing metrological data flows through networks to facilitate trade, competitiveness, quality and consumer satisfaction of food and nutrition data at a national and international level. The RI will foster competitiveness in the Food & Health domain in many ways, especially through its unique technical and scientific offer.

https://www.metrofood.it