WATSON provides a methodological framework combined with a set of tools and systems that can detect and prevent fraudulent activities throughout the whole food chain thus accelerating the deployment of transparency solutions in the EU food systems. The proposed framework will improve sustainability of food chains by increasing food safety and reducing food fraud through systemic innovations that a) increase transparency in food supply chains through improved track-and-trace mechanisms containing accurate, time-relevant and untampered information for the food product throughout its whole journey, b) equip authorities and policy makers with data, knowledge and insights in order to have the complete situational awareness of the food chain and c) raise the consumer awareness on food safety and value, leading to the adoption of healthier lifestyles and the development of sustainable food ecosystems. WATSON implements an intelligence-based risk calculation approach to address the phenomenon of food fraud in a holistic way. The project includes three distinct pillars, namely, a) the identification of data gaps in the food chain, b) the provision of methods, processes and tools to detect and counter food fraud and c) the effective cross border collaboration of public authorities through accurate and trustworthy information sharing. WATSON will rely upon emerging technologies (AI, IoT, DLT, etc.) enabling transparency within supply chains through the development of a rigorous, traceability regime, and novel tools for rapid, non-invasive, on-the-spot analysis of food products. The results will be demonstrated in 6 use cases: a) prevention of counterfeit alcoholic beverages, b) preservation of the authenticity of PGI honey, c) on-site authenticity check and traceability of olive oil, d) the identification of possible manipulations at all stages of the meat chain, e) the improved traceability of high-value products in cereal and dairy chain, f) combat of salmon counterfeiting.

TANGO will establish a stronger cross-sector data sharing, in a citizen-centric, secure and trustworthy manner, by developing innovative solutions while addressing environmental degradation and climate change challenges. The overall outcome is a novel platform exhibiting the following capabilities: user-friendly, secure, trustworthy, compliant, fair, transparent, accountable and environmentally sustainable data management, having at its core technology components for distributed, privacy preserving and environmentally sustainable data collection, processing, analysis, sharing and storage. This platform will promote trustworthy and digitally enabled interactions across society, for people as well as for businesses. TANGO will leverage the power of emerging digital technologies to strengthen the privacy for citizens and private/public organisations, reduce costs and improve productivity. It will unlock the innovation potential of digital technologies for decentralised, privacy-preserving applications, while making accessible and demonstrating this potential within the GAIA-X and EOSC ecosystem. With 37 key partners from 13 countries, TANGO, is uniquely positioned to provide a high impact solution within the transport, e-commerce, finance, public administration, tourism and industrial domains supporting numerous beneficiaries across Europe. Through the provision of TANGO technologies, a trustworthy environment will be designed acting as a gatekeeper to information and data flows. Citizens and public/private organisations will be empowered to act and interact providing data both online and offline. TANGO will focus its activities on 3 main pillars: (i) the deployment of trustworthy, accountable and privacy-preserving data-sharing technologies and platforms; (ii) the creation of data governance models and frameworks; (iii) the improvement of data availability, quality and interoperability – both in domain-specific settings and across sectors.