Monitoring the EU data economy for food systems
The data economy for food systems examines the data value chains created within the boundaries of food systems. It aims to achieve better informed decision-making processes, social engagement, governance, and innovation, while at the same time developing food systems that provide healthy food and manage natural resources more efficiently.
Digitally-empowered and data-driven food systems are increasingly seen as a solution to address challenges of future food security in the face of increasing population, while maintaining factors like food quality, environmental sustainability, equity or value creation.
Definition of the Data Economy for Food Systems (DE4FS)
The DE4FS is a dynamic ecosystem that supports direct and indirect interactions between the Data Economy and the Food system. The DE4FS is characterized by numerous and evolutive sub-ecosystems with loosed boundaries, defined based on preexisting knowledge, models, specific temporalities and spatialities, and in relation to societal expectations, such as ethics, fairness, inclusiveness, food security, sustainability…
The DE4FS is deployed by means of immaterial resources, such as data, skills, competences and knowledge, applied to material resources by its actors, organized through profit and no-for-profit relationships and formal and informal interactions, and regulated by institutional and legal arrangements.
By integrating material and immaterial resources from within and outside its own ecosystem, the DE4FS is source of value co-creation for its stakeholders, other related ecosystems such as heath, technology, research and innovation… and the society at large.
The DE4FS value co-creation process aims at reducing the temporality and spatiality of specific food systems, by mobilizing data-driven solutions that provide real-time and located information supporting decision-making and monitoring, and at fostering their functioning and evolution. The DE4FS value co-creation involves monetary exchanges but also service exchanges related to the use of the data-driven solutions and the context in which they are developed, including societal expectations, natural constraints, existing regulations, and stakeholders’ demands.
Why a monitoring system?
While the data economy for food systems is still in its early stage, this dashboard provides a vast knowledge base in order to create better insights. It is a rich source of information on the state-of-play, trends and impact, but also on related projects, resources and linked studies.
The dashboard gives insights on the level of European countries on the one hand, and on how data sharing initiatives function on the other hand. This gives useful insights into its development, structure, functioning and how it can be improved, on an institutional level as well as from a business perspective.
When data sharing initiatives register, they can benchmark themselves against other initiatives, to understand its status, get inspired in which direction to move, or understand the options of the DE4FS better.
How does it work?
The monitoring system is based on:
- A macroeconomic model and system dynamic simulations which incorporate a series of scenarios, aiming to extrapolate and forecast the impact of increasing the size of the data market on the overall economy, the impact of strategic options and the impact of generalization of case studies.
- Real-life illustrations of the DE4FS at meso/micro-economic level, provided by data sharing initiatives and case studies.
