A Ηolistic Framework for Assisting Food Chain Stakeholders in Rapidly Identifying and Preventing the Spread of Fraudulent Practices (WATSON Project)

WATSON is a HORIZON Europe 2021-2027 Project.

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The full title of the project is “A holistic frameWork with Anticounterfeit and inTelligence-based technologieS that will assist food chain stakehOlders in rapidly identifying and preveNting the spread of fraudulent practices”.

WATSON is a large and ambitious project aiming to identify and prevent the spread of fraudulent practices in EU food systems. It falls under the HORIZON-CL6-2022-FARM2FORK-01-11 topic "Effective systems for authenticity and traceability in the food system" and it involves 44 organizations from Europe. The consortium included 13 RTOs & Universities, 11 Large Enterprises & SMEs, 10 Producers & Consumers Associations, 3 Retailers, and 7 NGOs / Think Tanks & Safety Authorities.

The project provides a methodological framework combined with a set of tools and systems that can detect and prevent fraudulent activities throughout the whole food chain thus accelerating the deployment of transparency solutions in the EU food systems. The framework will improve the sustainability of food chains by increasing food safety and reducing food fraud through the WATSON systemic innovations. WATSON relies upon emerging technologies (AI, IoT, DLT, etc.) enabling transparency within supply chains through the development of a rigorous, traceability regime, and novel tools for rapid, non-invasive, on-the-spot analysis of food products. The results will be demonstrated in 6 use cases in various food sectors. 

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IELab is responsible for the application of technological innovations, mainly blockchain and IoT, for food fraud identification and prevention. IELab is also involved in tasks related to the assessment of methodologies, tools, and approaches for the prevention of food fraud.

Linkedin page of the project: https://www.linkedin.com/company/watsonhorizon/