The IoF2020 project is dedicated to accelerate adoption of IoT for securing sufficient, safe and healthy food and to strengthen competitiveness of farming and food chains in Europe. It will consolidate Europe’s leading position in the global IoT industry by fostering a symbiotic ecosystem of farmers, food industry, technology providers and research institutes. The IoF2020 consortium of 73 partners, led by Wageningen UR and other core partners of previous key projects such as FIWARE and IoT-A, will leverage the ecosystem and architecture that was established in those projects. The heart of the project is formed by 19 use cases grouped in 5 trials with end users from the Arable, Dairy, Fruits, Vegetables and Meat verticals and IoT integrators that will demonstrate the business case of innovative IoT solutions for a large number of application areas. A lean multi-actor approach focusing on user acceptability, stakeholder engagement and sustainable business models will boost technology and market readiness levels and bring end user adoption to the next stage. This development will be enhanced by an open IoT architecture and infrastructure of reusable components based on existing standards and a security and privacy framework. Anticipating vast technological developments and emerging challenges for farming and food, the 4-year project stays agile through dynamic budgeting and adaptive decision-making by an implementation board of representatives from key user organizations. A 6 M€ mid-term open call will allow for testing intermediate results and extending the project with technical solutions and test sites. A coherent dissemination strategy for use case products and project learnings supported by leading user organizations will ensure a high market visibility and an increased learning curve. Thus IoF2020 will pave the way for data-driven farming, autonomous operations, virtual food chains and personalized nutrition for European citizens.

With a burgeoning population across Africa, characterized by a significant youth demographic, the challenge of youth unemployment persists, exacerbated by limited opportunities in the formal sector. The informal economy absorbs the majority of new entrants, offering precarious and low-quality jobs. In response, the STREAMING project aims to develop strategies for fair, healthy, and environmentally sustainable food systems across the continent. By fostering connections between basic research and practical implementation, STREAMING seeks to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among various target groups, including women, researchers, students, and farmers. Through networking platforms, innovation hubs, startup scouting, and training programs, the project aims to bridge academia-industry gaps and promote the adoption of sustainable practices and technologies in African food trade systems. Additionally, with a focus on policy analysis and recommendation, STREAMING aims to inform trade policies in Africa and Europe, with an emphasis on removing non-tariff barriers to trade and enhancing resilience against external challenges such as climate change. By integrating stakeholder perspectives, empirical research, and innovative solutions, STREAMING strives to contribute to the establishment of fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food systems continent-wide.

NEXTRUST objective is to increase efficiency and sustainability in logistics by developing interconnected trusted collaborative networks along the entire supply chain. These trusted networks, built horizontally and vertically, will fully integrate shippers, LSPs and intermodal operators as equal partners. To reach a high level of sustainability, we will not only bundle freight volumes, but shift them off the road to intermodal rail and waterway. NEXTRUST will build these trusted networks ideally bottom up, with like-minded partners, adding multiple layers of transport flows that have been de-coupled and then re-connected more effectively along the supply chain. We will develop C-ITS cloud based smart visibility software to support the re-engineering of the networks, improving real-time utilization of transport assets. NEXTRUST will focus on research activities that create stickiness for collaboration in the market, validated through pilot cases in live conditions. The action engages major shippers as partners (Beiersdorf, Borealis, Colruyt, Delhaize, KC, Mondelez, Panasonic, Philips, Unilever) owning freight volumes well over 1.000.000 annual truck movements across Europe, plus SME shippers and LSPs with a track record in ICT innovation. The pilot cases cover the entire scope of the call and cover a broad cross section of entire supply chain (from raw material to end-consumers) for multiple industries. The creation and validation of trusted collaborative networks will be market oriented and implemented at an accelerated rate for high impact. We expect our pilot cases to reduce deliveries by 20%-40% and with modal shift to reduce GHG emissions by 40%-70%. Load factors will increase by 50%-60% given our emphasis on back-load/modal shift initiatives. NEXTRUST will achieve a high impact with improved asset utilization and logistics cost efficiency, creating a sustainable, competitive arena for European logistics that will be an inspirational example for the market.