SINTEF Ocean will co-ordinate the SmartChain project and the partners are Seagarden AS in Norway, Technical University of Denmark, Beia Consult International in Romania, University of Iceland, Brim and MarkMar in Iceland. The project launched in October 2021 and will be run until October 2024 with a budget of €1.5 million. SmartChain is a BlueBio COFUND project.

The primary objective of SmartChain is to develop approaches and tools for sustainable utilisation, production planning, logistics optimisation, and traceability to facilitate the transfer of bio-resources in fisheries and aquaculture value chains.

The project seeks to bring about smart solutions for advancing supply systems in blue bioeconomy value chains. Automated sorting and quality characterisation, together with optimising production planning will reduce waste from processing while the blockchain technology will increase the transparency in the supply chain. The project will also look into upscaling the production of high-value marine ingredients from co-streams from the pelagic industry. Sustainability indicators and circularity criteria will be applied to assess the performance of the system solutions.

SmartChain has defined three case studies from aquaculture and fisheries value chains, including Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Romania. Industry actors representing their sectors will be involved in the implementation and application of the development of technologies and models through the case studies, achieving a TRL ranging between 4 and 6. In addition, an advisory group will contribute with insights into the existing bottlenecks and technology gaps in the bioeconomy sector.

The SmartChain simulation framework will enable the assessment of the end-to-end effects and potentials of the project and enlighten policy makers, businesses, investors, entrepreneurs, institutions, stakeholders, and citizens about potential trade-offs.

SmartChain will contribute to capacity building by creating awareness, opening opportunities for academic researchers and reaching out to a broad spectrum of stakeholders across multiple countries.

Stay tuned for more news and developments within the SmartChain project online and follow SmartChain on social media. LinkedIn and Twitter.