Process monitoring is a crucial task for bioprocess optimization and will play a decisive role in the digitization of future bio-based production systems. System failure prediction technologies must be an integral part of monitoring schemes; however, these technologies are underdeveloped as far as the bioenergy industry is concerned. The objective of PRODIGIO is to establish a base of knowledge for the development of system failure prediction technologies that increase the performance of microalgae production and anaerobic digestion systems and advance towards more favourable techno-economic, environmental and social performance to achieve more sustainable microalgae biogas. By combining perturbation experiments in bioreactor systems and cutting-edge methods for big data analysis, PRODIGIO will decode the triggers, identify early-warnings, define threshold values, and calculate warning times for critical state transitions in bioreactors. Taking into account processes inefficiencies, we estimate that, along with the implementation of prevention countermeasures, PRODIGIO technology could contribute to increasing resource and energy efficiencies >50% throughout the production chain, which would translate into OPEX savings and GHG emissions reduction. The technological solutions that will derive from the project, such as a catalog of early warning signals for the failure of microalgae production and conversion-to-biogas systems, will be pre-commercial in nature; however, a roadmap will be compiled and updated during the course of the project that will identify priority research lines for further development and future implementation of technology. The results of PRODIGIO will pave the way for moving the entire microalgae biogas production chain efficiently towards its theoretical maximum, enabling the development of a fully integrated and truly sustainable microalgae biogas production industry and contributing to strengthening the EU's leadership in renewable fuel technologies.

Clear5G’s objective is to design, develop, validate, and demonstrate an integrated convergent wireless network for Machine Type and Mission Critical Communication (MTC/MCC) services for Factories of the Future (FoF). Clear5G will deliver technical solutions addressing the challenges of massive deployment of connected devices, security, ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability in FoF applications, like remote maintenance and closed loop control systems. The requirements of these complex scenarios will be met through the convergence of different wireless technologies, enabled by protocol and architecture enhancements proposed by Clear5G. Clear5G will focus on providing PHY, MAC, and architectural enhancements to meet the strict requirements of FoF applications in terms of KPIs: latency, reliability, connection density, spectrum, and energy efficiency, thus contributing to the ITU-R objectives (e.g. 1000 fold connection density) for the next generation mobile network. The Clear5G team comprises a combination of European and Taiwanese successful, innovative, and well known major corporations, SMEs, as well as research and academic institutions. The partners have proven know-how in architecture, resource management, protocol enhancements, standardization, prototyping, and demonstration. Proof of concepts will be tested on the 5GIC testbed in Europe, while the final system demonstration, showing the tight integration and cooperation of manufacturing and the Clear5G enhanced network, will be implemented on the III testbed in Taiwan. Clear5G brings together a strong and diverse set of European and Taiwanese partners, including partners from the FoF sector; the complementarity of team, skills and expertise will bring added value to 5G research on both sides and will deepen international cooperation, serving as a showcase of 5G empowering vertical industries. The partners will contribute to relevant standardisation in both the communication and the manufacturing domains.

Strengthening food and nutrition security (FNS) in the EU requires a move towards a diet that supports sustainable food consumption and production. To gauge the policy reforms needed for this major societal challenge, the SUSFANS-consortium will identify how food production and nutritional health in the EU can be aligned. The multidisciplinary research agenda of SUSFANS will build the conceptual framework, the evidence base and analytical tools for underpinning EU-wide food policies with respect to their impact on consumer diet and their implications for nutrition and public health, the environment, the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sectors, and global FNS. Based on a conceptual model of the food chain and its stakeholders, SUSFANS will develop suitable metrics and identify major drivers for sustainable FNS, integrate data and modelling, and develop foresight for European sustainable FNS. Central asset is a coherent toolbox which integrates two complementary strands of state-of-the-art quantitative analysis: (i) micro-level modelling of nutrient intakes, habitual dietary patterns and preferences of individual consumers, and (ii) macro-level modelling of food demand and supply in the context of economic, environmental and demographic changes on various time-scales and for multiple sub-regions. The tools will bridge the current gap between policy analysis on the EU agri-food sector and the nutrition-health sector. Case studies and scenarios based on stakeholder input from consumers, food industry, farmers/fishermen, government and the scientific community, are instrumental in achieving this goal. The project will provide a comprehensive set of tools for assessing sustainable FNS in Europe, centred around the implications of the current diet for the sustainability of production and consumption in the EU, and the options for the EU agri-food sector (including fisheries and aquaculture) to improve future diets in the near future (up to 5 years) and in the long run (one or more decades ahead).