SS4AF

„Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food”

Who we are?

The Thematic Smart Specialisation Partnership ‘Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food’ builds on the expertise of 38 partners (clusters and research centres) from 12 regions dedicated to support the digital transformation of the agri-food industry. All partners have established industry and research networks and vast experience with Industry 4.0 related topics and projects. By connecting competences across European regions, the partners as well as their members and stakeholders will benefit from shared knowledge with the aim to accelerate the adoption and transformation towards a digital agri-food system. SS4AF was initiated by Flanders FOOD, imec, and DSP Valley from Flanders and Wagralim from Wallonia.

Vision

Support all the agri-food companies to ensure they make the leap towards Industry 4.0 and that the agri-food sector evolves into an interconnected, resilient and smart agri-food system in Europe.

„Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food” (SS4AF)

Industry 4.0 is driving companies all over Europe. This is also true for the agri-food sector, being one of the most important industries in Europe. Mainly small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are present, shaping this industry with a large variety of products and processes. And it is mainly SMEs that have a strong need for innovations driven by their main challenges like quality, safety, sustainability, resource efficiency, alternative proteins, or traceability to name a few.

Facilitating development of and the access to applicable technologies and digital solutions for the agri-food industry and supporting the digital transformation of this sector – this describes best the mission of the Partnership ‘Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food’ (SS4AF). Given the sector´s structure, the creation of an IoT environment and introducing ‘smart solutions’ is a huge challenge for agri-food companies. As SS4AF Partnership we believe that a down to earth, stepwise approach, starting from the challenges and needs of the agri-food companies is the step forward.

The aim of our SS4AF Partnership is to contribute to the development and roll-out of the Smart Specialisation Strategies of the involved regions. Our objectives are:

the set-up of a platform between agri-food clusters and cluster organisations representing the technology- or digital solution providers, relevant RTOs and other related stakeholders, lowering the barriers for agri-food companies to access and implement the newest technologies linked to digitalization;

the establishment of a network of living labs, where these newest technologies can be demonstrated and tested;

the collaboration between clusters and RTOs to create a trust zone between the involved sectors, facilitating the exchange of know-how and accelerating the introduction of technologies.

As physical backbone of our Partnership we are setting-up a network of shared, open access Living Labs, where new Industry 4.0 related technologies can be demonstrated and tested. Competition and duplication within EU regions limits the development of critical scale. It is clear that collaboration between complementary EU regions is more effective and sustainable than competition.