After two successful co-creation workshops – the goal-defining workshop in June 2021 and the implementation workshop in January 2022 – and an intense design and implementation period, the first version of the ICT platform for trustworthy traceability information on Feta cheese production is available.
Information from key phases, including milk collection, milk mixing and cheese processing operations is captured using the ICT system and registered in Blockchain. Blockchain, an innovative technology being piloted in food industry, allows for immutability and integrity of the information.
The usage of Blockchain, as a decentralized ledger, presents technological and organizational challenges, e.g. related to data volumes that can be handled. The combined usage of private (project – based) and public (Ethereum testnet) along with optimized data management and coding techniques employed in the case study, contribute to its smooth usage.
The case study is well aligned with the tectonic changes in the Ethereum landscape in terms of consensus algorithms. The Merge, executed on September 15, 2022, completed Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake consensus, officially deprecating proof-of-work and reducing energy consumption by ~99.95%.
The case study’s ‘smart contracts’ (i.e. computerized rules executed in Blockchain verifying that the operational parameters comply with the legislation framework and best practices) are PoS compliant, while we are currently migrating from Ropsten testnet to the new recommended testnet Goerli.
Stay tuned, as in the coming months the platform will be further enhanced and piloted.
Text and image contributed by Andreas Papadakis –