ATHENA

Research and Innovation Center in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies (Coordinator) (ATHENA RC)

The “Athena” Research Center in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies was founded in 2003, taking under its umbrella existing institutes established as far back as 1991. It is headquartered in Athens, with its institutes and units located in Athens, Patras and Xanthi. It operates under the auspices of the General Secretariat of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs. ATHENA RC consists today of 3 Research Institutes and 3 Units: Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP), Industrial Systems Institute (ISI), Institute for the Management of Information Systems (IMIS), Space Programmes Unit, Information Analysis and Modeling Unit and the Corallia Clusters Initiative. The advancement of excellence, innovativeness and competitiveness in the crucial sector of Information and Knowledge Technologies lies at the center of ATHENA RC value system. Through national and international R&D projects, technological ecosystem development initiatives, innovative application activities and knowledge transfer to the social and economic environment, ATHENA RC fulfills its mission to support the participation of Greece both in the “Europe 2020” strategy and the global movement towards smart and sustainable growth for all.

Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Studi Universitati e di Perfezionamento (SSSA)

The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna is a highly selective public university based in Pisa (Italy), explicitly funded by the State to pursue excellence in higher education and research through a multidisciplinary approach. SSSA is composed  of six Institutes, including the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), which takes part in CAPSELLA. The ILS brings together two areas: (i) Agricultural Sciences and (ii) Medical Sciences. The Agricultural Sciences area includes the following disciplines: Agroecology, Agronomy, Biotechnology, Entomology,  Fruit Crops and Post-harvest Technology, Plant Genetics and Genomics, and Plant Physiology. The Group of Agroecology (GOA) will be involved in CAPSELLA. In the latest national assessment of research and higher education quality, SSSA was ranked #1 among Italian Universities in Agricultural Sciences. GOA has a well-established international scientific reputation in the fields agroecology and functional agrobiodiversity.

Aston University / Aston Business School (AST)

Aston University (AST) is a long established research-led University known for its world-class teaching quality and strong links to industry, government and commerce. Aston Business School (ABS) is a triple-accredited business school (AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB), and has been ranked in the top 10 in the UK in the Eduniversal rankings for the 3rd year running in 2013. As per the REF2014, ABS is ranked 17th in the UK for research classed as world leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*). The School received a maximum 100% for research impact. ABS works in collaboration with industry, governments and the academic community to produce new research initiatives, with a particular focus on applied research that contributes to sustainable economic growth and development. The Business School has over 140 faculty members teaching and researching across all areas of business. The Operations and Information Management group within the Business School has a world-class reputation in systems modelling and simulation, supply chain management, knowledge management, technology and operations management. The group is organised into four research teams concerning Business Analytics, Operations Management, Global ICT Management, Systems Modelling and Simulation. It is a highly inter-disciplinary group and has a growing body of research concerning agrifood, sustainability and the role of ICT in supply chains and operations.

Agro-Know BVBA (AK/BE)

Agro-Know BVBA is the Research & Development (R&D) unit of Agro-Know, a fast-growing company that captures, organizes and adds value to the rich information available in agricultural and biodiversity sciences, in order to make it universally accessible, useful and meaningful. Launched in 2008  by a small team of people with loads of ideas, Agro-Know has grown over the years to consist of a team with different expertise, including agronomists, information scientists, software engineers, web developers and food scientists capable of providing integrated solutions to an increasingly demanding market. Using state-of-art and standards-compliant technology solutions, as well as high quality data pools enables Agro-Know to deliver competitive solutions and customised services covering the needs of all stakeholders in the agricultural, food, environmental and biodiversity science spectrum. Agro-Know has been directly involved in more than twenty (20) EU-funded projects related to information acquisition, processing, management & visualisation, in the context of which it has worked on solving data interoperability problems and developing data products.

RETE SEMI RURALI

Rete Semi Rurali – Italian Farmers’ Seeds Network RSR – was established in 2007 and in 2015 consists of 31 associations. The commitment of RSR consists in supporting farmers, politically and scientifically, in the creation and dissemination of self- and truly sustainable organic farming systems. The objective of RSR is to rebuild sustainable agricultural systems starting from: agriculture re-localization, territorial re-contextualization of agricultural research and technical, political and cultural centrality of farmers and rural areas.  RSR provides information through a monthly informative newsletter and a periodical magazine, websites (www.semirurali.net;  www.semiedintorni.it; www.biocentropertusati.it), meetings and publishing of technical and awareness materials; training activities based on knowledge exchange programs among farmers, technicians, researchers at regional, national and international, educational pathways with schools and specific vocational training courses. Rete also supports the implementation of ITPGRFA- FAO Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture at national level and on the promotion of agricultural goods practices and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity at national and international level.

Zephyr s.r.l.

Zephyr s.r.l combines expertise in marketing, communications, dissemination and outreach, public affairs and technical web skills to work for clients in promoting innovation, bringing knowledge to market, and developing high value human networks. Thanks to the involvement of its team within IT companies for  over 10  years, Zephyr s.r.l. enters the competitive business world with an extensive experience in managing European projects and exploiting the most promising technological results produced within R&D activities conducted in the framework of European Research Programmes. Zephyr’s team also leverages on its extensive experience working on ICT and e-Infrastructure related initiatives and the ability to build relations with an International Community, especially in South-East Asia, Japan, Latin America, India and Sub-Saharan Africa where there has already been some significant headway and strategic ICT ties with a view to new technology, consultancy and research opportunities.

WE DELIVER TASTE

We Deliver Taste is a consultancy company specialised in food supply chain management. Its mission is to connect agriculture with gastronomy, developing innovative products and services that create sustainable and transparent food chains. We deliver Taste promotes direct interaction between food producers, markets and consumers, increasing access to information and knowledge exchange about quality food products. The company maintains a wide international working network of food producers, professionals and communities and is founded by a team of young, motivated researchers and professionals with a background on agriculture, food and gastronomy. The company aspires to play a leading role in the development of future food systems and will contribute to the Consortium with extensive experience, content and data to the development of the project. Global winner in the “Smart Living Challenge” innovation contest on smart urban living (Stockholm, December 2014)

Zuidelijke Land en Tuinbouw Organisatie – ZLTO– Den Bosch – Netherlands

The Zuidelijke Land- en Tuinbouworganisatie (ZLTO) is an association for entrepreneurs in the green environment. In Noord-Brabant, Zeeland and Zuid-Gelderland, we represent over 18,000 members which we support in realizing a sustainable position in the market and in society. We strive to be concerned and professional, both bij advocacy and initiation of projects as well as by individual advice.  We also participate in strategic activities and innovations within the agri-food sector which create added value to the (future) market position of our members. We constantly challenge our members to stay alert and to adapt to the changing needs from citizens and consumers. Main topics on the agenda are: regional innovation, maintain the market position, professional and sustainable entrepreneurship, enforce knowledge infrastructure and innovation. The 130 employees of ZLTO serve the members with better data (infrastructure), because they are the key players for more sustainable and productive enterprises in our region.