New Data Sharing Architecture for Agri-food System

The agri-food system is facing a major turning point. New data sharing technologies developed within PLOUTOS could revolutionize the way we produce and consume food, leading to a more sustainable future.

One of the biggest challenges of the agri-food system has been to achieve greater data sharing. This is essential for informing stakeholders about products and incentivizing greater environmental sustainability. Within PLOUTOS, a new data sharing architecture has been developed that will make it easier for businesses (and consumers) to track the food produced, which could lead to more sustainable food production.

How it works?

The Ploutos architecture is a data sharing framework that aims to achieve the controlled and technically sound flow of data between the various information providers and consumers in the agri-food sector. The framework is based on a semantic model, which allows for open and semantically standardized interoperability between existing systems that keep their data at the source.

The architecture is built on three principles:

• Reuse of existing semantic standards: This ensures that the data is interoperable and can be easily shared between different systems.
• Integration with legacy systems: This allows the architecture to be used with existing systems, without the need for major overhauls.
• A distributed architecture: This gives stakeholders control over their own data, while still allowing it to be shared with others.

The PLOUTOS architecture has been implemented and evaluated in the context of Pilot 1, which addressed the existing data related requirements of a frozen fruit value chain. The two major objectives of this pilot were to:

• Support small farmers in optimising their cultivation practices through a data-driven smart farming solution (FMIS).
• Increase production transparency and reduce the administrative burden through data sharing mechanisms.

The deployment and use of the proposed data sharing mechanisms took place in a real-world operational environment involving the integration of production systems. The results of the pilot showed that the PLOUTOS architecture was able to achieve its objectives, and that it has the potential to be a valuable tool for improving data sharing in the agri-food sector.

What's the added value?

A key achievement of the PLOUTOS architecture is that it enables semantic/syntactic interoperability at a high level with existing operational systems without requesting from them to change their mode of operation. This makes it possible to integrate new data sources into existing systems without having to make major changes to those systems.

Want to see more?

Watch this video which shows how small farmers of Sustainable Innovation Pilot (SIP) 1 benefited from the deployment of smart farming solutions and data driven innovations. 

Refinement of the Sustainable Innovation Framework

The PLOUTOS Sustainable Innovation Framework (SIF) is a process that helps organizations to identify, develop, and implement sustainable innovations. The SIF is a cyclical framework, meaning that the organization can return to any of the stages at any time. This flexibility allows the organization to adapt the framework to its specific needs. The framework consists of five phases (two new stages have been added recently) which are presented and briefly explained below.

1. Forming: The forming stage is the initial stage of the SIF. In this stage, the organization identifies the need for sustainable innovation and forms a team to lead the innovation process. The team will need to define the scope of the innovation project and identify the key stakeholders.
2. Baseline assessment: This phase involves assessing the current state of the organization and identifying opportunities for improvement. This includes assessing the organization's environmental impact, its social impact, and its economic impact.
3. Innovation: This phase involves developing and implementing new solutions that address the opportunities identified in the baseline assessment. The organization will need to consider a variety of factors when developing new solutions, such as the technological, collaborative business model and behavioral aspects. It is important to innovate the three aspects in an integrated manner by frequently aligning between them. Moreover, while innovating, it is important to factor in contextual factors such as changing regulations as well as the sustainable objectives set in the baseline assessment.
4. Evaluation: This phase involves evaluating the success of the new solutions and making adjustments as needed. The evaluation will help the organization to determine whether the new solutions are achieving the desired results.
   
5. Maturation: The maturation stage is the fifth and final stage of the SIF. In this stage, the organization integrates the new solutions into its operations and ensures that the solutions are sustainable in the long term. The organization will need to monitor the performance of the new solutions and make adjustments as needed.

Here are some of the benefits of using the Sustainable Innovation Framework on each of the PLOUTOS 11 pilots:

• Helps to ensure that the innovation process is effective: The baseline assessment stage helps the organization to understand its starting point and to identify areas where it can improve. This information can then be used to develop and implement new solutions that are more likely to be successful.
• Helps to track progress towards sustainability goals: The evaluation stage helps the organization to track its progress towards its sustainability goals. This information can then be used to make adjustments to the innovation process as needed.
• Helps to ensure that the organization is making the most of its resources: The baseline assessment stage can help the organization to identify areas where it is wasting resources. This information can then be used to make adjustments to the organization's operations.

Are you looking for a way to make your organization more sustainable?

The SIF is a flexible and adaptable framework that can be used by agri-food and other organizations of all sizes. 

If you are interested in learning more about the SIF, you can contact the POLIMI scientific and research team behind this framework  

We would be happy to help you get started on your journey to sustainable innovation. 

Ernst Johannes Prosman [email protected]

Updates from our Sister Projects #H2020FoodSis