The European project THEROS, coordinated by the ISENSE Group of ICCS was officially launched on 1st January 2023. The project will last for 36 months and is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe program.
The aim of THEROS is to formulate an integrated toolbox capable of modernizing the process of verification of organic and geographical indications of food products and preventing fraud and non-compliance through the use of various technological innovations and data sources, while demonstrating enhanced security, transparency and interoperability in the food quality labelling supply chain.
In particular, THEROS will use low-cost, digital and scalable solutions based on Earth observation, photonics, Internet of Things (IoT) and DNA authentication methods, combined with advanced analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to ensure effective detection of fraud cases, as well as monitoring of relevant quality and sustainability data. Finally, THEROS will leverage platforms and algorithms to better manage heterogenous data, as well as interfaces to facilitate decision making and support authorities. The THEROS toolkit will be evaluated in real-life conditions through four pilot demonstrations (Serbia, Greece, Czech Republic and Spain) covering different food products with organic/geographical indications and cases of fraud/adulteration.
On the 23rd and 24th February, THEROS held a kick-off meeting in Athens, with the participation of 17 partners from 6 European countries, who presented the objectives and the agenda for the next actions. The project coordinator, Dr. Angelos Amditis, gave an overview of the project and presented the objectives and expected results. In particular, he stressed that through the THEROS toolkit, traceability and transparency in the respective supply chains will enhance consumer confidence, providing clear control of the actors involved in the production, distribution and marketing of organic products in the EU.
The THEROS project brings together the academic and private sectors from six European countries (Greece, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Spain, Cyprus, Serbia). More specifically, the seventeen (17) partners that will collaborate and co-shape the conditions for the success of the program are: the ISENSE Group of ICCS, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), the Institute of Applied Biosciences at the National Center for research and technological development (Ineb | CERTH), the information technology services company NTT DATA, the application company GIS SINERGISE, the software company eBOS, the shipping, transport and communication companies SEABILITY, the WIRELESSINFO, the Institute of Agricultural Products Technology-ITAP, the organization of control for organic production OCS, the World Organization of testing, inspection and certification (TIC), training and consulting services KIWA, the Organization of Control and certification of Bio Hellas (BIOH), the organic producers group of western Greece BioNetWestHellas, the Spanish company Mejillón de Galicia, the Serbian food company UNIVEREXPORT and the Czech ŠUMAVAprodukt.
For more information visit the project website https://theros-project.eu/.
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