Spatial technology and blockchain to reinforce traceability of the food chain

The Ceit Technology centre is taking part in the Space4green project that combines data obtained via Copernicus remote spatial detection technology and Galileo satellite navigation systems with blockchain.

Space4green, which forms part of the HORIZON EUROPE programme, seeks to provide those involved in the food chain with reliable data about monitoring and traceability throughout the entire supply chain, thus reinforcing EU strategy within this sphere of activity.

“Trusted and Green Traceability trough European Union Space Technologies”, also known as Space4green, is a project that has been set in motion with a view to creating a new system that combines spatial navigation and remote detection technologies with blockchain, in order to foster product traceability within the food chain.

The Ceit Technology Centre is taking part in this project headed by the company Integrasys. Space4Green forms part of the HORIZON EUROPE project and is a signatory to the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) agreement (No 101082630). Moreover, it counts on the support of the following: two more Spanish partners, the Lucena Oil Protected Designation of Origin and Food Cooperative Federation of Andalusia, which will participate in use cases; two Greek partners, Agrotikos Synetairismos Pellas and Agro APPS; the Estonian company Guardtime OU; the Slovenian technology centre ITC (Inovacijsko Tehnoloski Grozd Murska Sobota) and the Cypriot centre Strategic Omnia Research and Technology Development.

Integration of spatial technology and blockchain

Space4green seeks to provide those involved in the food chain with reliable data about traceability throughout the entire supply chain. This data will provide information about the state of goods (such as temperature and humidity) and will be able to corroborate compliance with regulatory requirements such as certificates of origin and health certificates.

The consortium will be working for two years on the development of a tool that securely combines data obtained from the Galileo and Copernicus satellite constellations with data processing and housing in the blockchain, thus enabling the use of global positioning to be securely reliable and traceable.

Prototype validation

To validate the prototype, Space4Green has agreed on six demonstration cases to be carried out in different territories.

On the one hand, in order to improve the certification of origin, transparency and traceability of the product, four food supply chains have been chosen: a local Slovenian agri-food system, two Denominations of Origin – one Spanish for oil and one Cypriot for wine -, and the application and monitoring of the Common Agrarian Policy in Andalusia. In these four cases, blockchain and Galileo technologies will be used, and this will speed up digital transformation of the food and agriculture sector and enable the exchange of data to be optimised throughout the entire chain.

In the other hand, Space4Green will generate a certifiable Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) from the information obtained by Copernicus. This index will provide detailed information about the agricultural practices of producers to those who purchase the raw material and also a tool for calculating carbon emissions, in order to establish the environmental impact of the food in question.

High precision for all links of the chain

In short, Space4Green provides the food and agriculture sector with a simpler and more competitive traceability system than currently existing ones, thus ensuring the original quality of products and offering reliable information about the origin and production of foodstuffs. All the links of the chain will benefit from applying this system - from the primary sector, which will be assured the original quality of its products throughout the supply chain, to the end consumer, who will obtain reliable information about the origin and production of the foodstuffs they are going to consume.

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