Category: General News

The University of Nicosia presented the TRUSTFOOD project at the NEOLAiA European Universities Alliance kick-off meeting that took place in Brussels, Belgium on February 7^th  – 8^th, 2024. ​NEOLAIA Alliance can be seen as a model international educator motivating widening cohorts of students to engage in innovative research-informed and socially relevant study programmes crossing the borders of disciplines, research areas, countries and cultures, keeping pace with the digitalisation of teaching and learning and at the same time cherishing personal contact and a tailor-made approach. 

The NEOLAiA Alliance, consisting of 9 European universities, discussed potential ways to create synergies between the two projects.  

TRUSTFOOD was showcased at Agrotica 2024, presented by Smart Agro Hub. The exhibition took place in Thessaloniki from February 1st to February 4th, 2024.

Agrotica is the largest sectoral exhibition in the agro-economic sector in the country and one of the most important exhibition events of the primary sector in Europe. Since 1985, it has been held every two years at the Exhibition and Conference Center of Thessaloniki, being the focal point of meeting and networking for the agricultural sector and the rural economy.

Agrotica’s visitors, primarily professionals in the agri-food supply chain, showed significant interest in learning about TRUSTFOOD and the training courses it will offer.

Smart Agro Hub, presented TRUSTFOOD at the TALLHEDA Kick-Off meeting on January 29th, 2024, in Athens, Greece.

TALLHEDA is a Horizon Europe project (WIDERA) that aims to build a new long-term Alliance for Digital Agriculture between agricultural Higher Education Institutes from two Widening countries Greece and Serbia with leading non-widening agricultural universities, and local and international stakeholders from Belgium. TALLHEDA Alliance will contribute to raising the critical mass of highly skilled scientists and to establishing liaisons with surrounding ecosystems, in order to foster the Quadruple Helix of innovation in Widening countries.

TRUSTFOOD and TALLHEDA share the common vision of transforming the agrifood supply chain, from different approaches. As a result, TALLHEDA partners were more than interested in learning more about TRUSTFOOD and the way it will introduce blockchain in the workforce of the agrifood supply chain.

TRUSTFOOD was mentioned in the 2nd DIS4SME newsletter, which was launched in January 2024.

DIS4SME is a sister project, that aims to deliver high-quality specialised training courses focused on location data interoperability in different areas.

DIS4SME and TRUSTFOOD participated in the Digital Europe Projects meeting in Brussels, in October 2023. Representatives from both projects recognised their shared vision and approach, deciding to create a synergy. The first step was to cross-promote the projects through their newsletters. The second step will be the co-organisation of an online workshop in the next months.

Stay tuned!

The Federation of Hellenic Food Industries organised an in-person informative event along with the Region of Western Greece & the Hellenic Technology Platform “Food for Life” entitled “Current Trends in Food Science & Human Nutrition”. TRUSTFOOD was showcased by Dr. Thomas Bartzanas.

The conference was held on December 6, 2023, at the Hellenic Open University Amphitheatre in Patras. It presented the current trends in food science, the strategic axes, the perspectives, the actions and the synergies that are being developed around research and innovation at the regional and national levels, with a view to the development of the Agri-food sector.

The event included a wide range of topics related to agri-food from renowned speakers and distinguished entrepreneurs, while successful examples of business partnerships with research institutions were presented.

It is worth noting that the Region aimed through important interventions and initiatives to support the agri-food sector such as the establishment of a Research Centre in Western Greece that includes three institutes, one of them the Institute of Food and Agri-food Technology.

As part of the TRUSTFOOD initiative, a poster titled “Digital Transformation of Beekeeping: The Case of Blockchain Technology” (original title in Greek) was presented during the 31st Congress of the Greek Society of Fruit and Vegetable Science. The congress took place in Heraklion, Greece, from October 29th to November 2nd, 2023.

The poster was a collaborative effort by professors Karetsos, Demestichas, Charizanis, Papadopoulou, and Costopoulou. It highlighted how blockchain technology can revolutionize beekeeping practices, emphasizing transparency and traceability in the industry.

For Greek-speaking readers, more information about the congress can be found here, and the full conference proceedings are available here.

Our Project Coordinator Rezos Brands SA-European R&D Department represented our project at the Digital Europe Programme projects meeting in Brussels on October 24th, 2023.
The event was a dynamic blend of Workshops, Roundtables, and Networking, providing invaluable insights into the digital landscape. A special highlight was the firsthand information shared by the esteemed European Commission staff, shedding light on the Digital Europe call data.

During the meeting, TRUSTFOOD’s coordinator had the opportunity to meet relevant projects with which TRUSTFOOD can create synergies and organise clustering activities. One of these projects is the DIS4SME project, which aims to deliver high-quality specialised training courses focused on location data interoperability in different areas.

Smart Agro Hub, Communication and Dissemination leader of TRUSTFOOD, was an active participant at the Agri Innovation Expo 2023 held at the Agricultural University of Athens from September 21st to September 23rd, 2023. During the grand opening ceremony of the exhibition TRUSTFOOD project was introduced!
Over this dynamic three-day event, we had the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with a wide range of stakeholders from the agri-food industry. We also collaborated with senior researchers from the Agricultural University of Athens and prestigious European institutions, established connections with representatives from Greek authorities, and exchanged valuable insights with the workforce from various SMEs.

The aim of Agri Innovation expo was to promote innovative research results that have a significant impact on research, the economy, society and the environment.

Who is the Agri Innovation expo aimed at?

-Students and researchers, to get to know the innovative products and services of the GPA.
-Companies interested in developing innovative products and services, to get to know and collaborate with the university’s research teams.
-Organisations interested in implementing the services and products developed, to discuss possible synergies
-Investors and representatives of venture, investment and technology funds wishing to finance mature research results, to discover the commercial relevance of the GERD’s research results
-General public to get to know a different ‘green’ university

Agri Innovation Expo 2023 offered visitors the opportunity to:
-Get to know the Agricultural University of Athens with a focus on cutting-edge research and innovative results.
-Be informed about the latest developments in the field of agri-food.
-See in practice its innovative research ideas and products.
-Connect with its pioneering laboratories and research teams.

Your opinion is important to us!
We are inviting you to complete a questionnaire about the needs and expectations on a platform that will offer short-term training courses for upskilling and reskilling of the labour force about key digital technologies of Blockchain and their applications to the food supply chain sector.
Please feel free to share the questionnaire with your co-workers interested in this topic
The questionnaire should take approximately 5 minutes to complete, and we encourage you to take your time and provide thoughtful responses.

Click here to complete the questionnaire: https://forms.gle/Lq753PQe1Xae8zfU7

Why do your expectations matter to us? The TRUSTFOOD project aims to create a platform designed to enhance the skills and knowledge of the workforce in key digital technologies, particularly Blockchain, and their applications within the agrifood

Stay tuned to explore our courses!