Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
Agrifood: ENEA, 18 million euro invested in hi-tech tools and supercomputers for food safety
State-of-the-art tools and facilities, kitchen-labs, supercomputers, advanced computing, hi-tech lasers, technology halls and living labs. More than 110 researchers from 5 ENEA Research Centers and 8 national institutions involved in agrifood research and innovation are provided by METROFOOD-IT, an infrastructure coordinated by ENEA and funded by the PNRR with about 18 million euro, most of which already invested.
METROFOOD-IT technology ecosystem serves all stakeholders in the agrifood system: from researchers to public decision makers, from inspection and control agencies to agribusinesses and citizens, through research & development, service delivery, technology transfer, training and co-creation activities.
In particular, the infrastructure pursues digitization of agrifood systems, traceability and sustainability, promotes reliability of products, processes and information and provides integrated services to citizens, local authorities and all stakeholders of agrifood systems.
In addition to ENEA, the INRiM (National Institute of Metrological Research) and the Universities of Naples Federico II, Siena, Parma, Roma Sapienza, Bari Aldo Moro and of Molise are part of the infrastructure.
Overall, thanks to dedicated investments, the METROFOOD-IT technology ecosystem was developed on three levels: services, data infrastructure and infrastructure linkage, where services are embodied in advanced analytical systems and smart sensors for food quality & safety, traceability, high performance computing (HPC), co-design, education and training.
Numerous ENEA facilities were the targeted for investment at the Casaccia, Trisaia, Brindisi, Frascati and Portici Research Centers, which are afferent to three different Departments of the Agency: Sustainability, Circularity and Climate Change Adaptation of Productive and Territorial Systems, Nuclear and Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources. Thanks to METROFOOD-IT, pre-existing laboratories and research facilities have also been optimized to enhance the services offered in the areas of traceability, food quality and safety, sustainability and circular bioeconomy.