METROFOOD-RI Enters Implementation Phase
A significant step forward for METROFOOD-RI, the distributed European research infrastructure promoting scientific excellence in food quality and safety. As of January 1, 2024, the infrastructure has officially entered the "Early Phase Implementation" with the launch of the Horizon Europe project METROFOOD-EPI. Over the years, the preparatory phase, funded by the EU through the H2020 project METROFOOD-PP from December 2019 to May 2022, has been instrumental in developing the organizational, operational, and strategic framework for METROFOOD-RI. It provided data, information, and metrological tools to enhance scientific excellence in support of the agri-food system.
"The project partners have developed the technical and financial framework necessary to create a service-oriented organization, establishing its operational standards and strategically defining its long-term activities," said project coordinator Claudia Zoani, a researcher at ENEA. The new phase will enable METROFOOD-RI to become a fully integrated, mature, and centrally coordinated research infrastructure with the legal, financial, and technical maturity required for full implementation and the initiation of the operational phase.
Specifically, four objectives have been identified for the METROFOOD-EPI project: supporting the creation of the legal entity managing the research infrastructure (RI), specifying the technical implementation of the service-oriented RI, consolidating its position in the European landscape, and ensuring long-term sustainability.
Objectives of METROFOOD-RI
The new phase of METROFOOD-RI comes at a time when consumers worldwide are increasingly focused on the quality, safety, and authenticity of food. In this context, the availability of high-quality and reliable data on agri-food production, as well as technologies to promote and demonstrate the quality, safety, and traceability of raw materials and products, is of fundamental importance to protect the interests of both consumers and producers. METROFOOD-RI fits into this context with a consortium involving Italy, Belgium, Germany, Greece, North Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey. Italy leads the consortium, coordinated by ENEA.
The infrastructure provides its users (researchers, policymakers, inspection and control agencies, agri-food industry companies, consumers, and citizens) with a range of services, offering access to state-of-the-art laboratories, facilities, and experimental structures. It promotes standardization and harmonization of measurements, sharing, integrating, and making knowledge and data interoperable in support of agri-food systems (e.g., food composition, quality, safety, authenticity, traceability, sustainability, and circular economy). In the future, METROFOOD-RI's RI will include both a physical research infrastructure (P-RI) and an electronic research infrastructure (e-RI), thus supporting the sustainable evolution of the agri-food sector.
