Direction and Coordination: Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia

Technical partner: Istituto di Genetica Applicata (IGA) di Udine 

It is a non-profit research centre with the purpose of carrying out and promoting scientific research in the field of genomics and its applications. It promotes solutions for agri-food problems through the identification and enhancement of existing genetic resources in nature and the diffusion of scientific culture in the field of genetics and genomics. 15 active research projects, worth about 6 million euros, 75 billion bases of DNA sequenced each day, a collaborative park of more than 20 researchers, dozens of scientific publications, many of them in prestigious magazines, despite the difficult economic moment - these are the results of almost a decade of activities of the Institute for Applied Genomics from Udine.

 IGA takes care of the design, development and coordination of partners for the realisation of the portal. Coordinates the Scientific Committee for Work Monitoring and Partnership Development, and the involvement of research and content-sharing bodies, and will focus on promoting the tool along with the FVG region.

Other regional partners: Area Science Park di Trieste

The Consortium for the AREA for Scientific and Technological Research in Trieste is a public body recognised by the MIUR - Ministry of Education, University and Research as the National Public Research Institute of the First Level, which manages the scientific and technological park "AREA Science Park", whose foundation dates back to 1978. AREA Science Park has 94,000 m2 of workshops, offices, common areas (to which approximately 100,000 m2 are occupied by ELETTRA Sincrotrone Trieste, which manages the synchronous" ELETTRA "and FEL - Free Electron Laser "FERMI") in its two main campuses of Padriciano and Basovizza (Trieste) and in the detached branch of Gorizia. There are approximately 2,550 employees in AREA Science Park's facilities and 92 public and private research and private research centres (as well as the Innovation Factory Incubator) are housed – their activities can be grouped into 5 clusters: life sciences; computer science, electronics, telecommunications; Physics, materials, nanotechnology; Energy and environment; Qualified services to companies and public bodies. Over the years, the "AREA Science Park system" has developed services and methodologies for enhancing research, technology transfer and innovation, making this Science and Technology Park a place where advanced training, research and business meet and constitute a key resource for the economic and employment growth of the territory, in order to turn it into one of the main Italian hubs of the European hub innovation network. In addition, AREA Science Park is the coordinator of the Network of Research Organizations of Friuli Venezia Giulia (CER), an initiative promoted by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region with the support of the MAE - Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 Area Science Park area participates in the project for territorial and institutional concentration actions in partner countries and for launching the follow-up phase of the project. Science Park Area is part of the scientific committee of the project and will participate in the monitoring and promotion phase of the tool, with the support of the portal spreading among the companies, institutions and institutes of the agri-food industry with which it cooperates. The industry's best practices can be presented in the virtual space of the portal's best practice showcase and will thus further promote their activities and collaborations with international partners involved in the project.

Other stakeholders involved: CREA, il Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria

CREA, the Agriculture Research Council and the Agricultural Economy Analysis, formed by CRA, after INEA incorporation (in which INRAN and ENSE had previously been joined), it is the most important research institution dealing with the agri-food sector in Italy. It has 12 research centers spread across national territory, each with one or more locations and it includes 6 disciplines (genomics and bioinformatics, agriculture and environment, safeguard and certification, engineering and agri-food transformation, food and nutrition, politics and bioeconomics) and 6 branches  (cereal crops and industrial crops, fruit tree crops, citrus and olive tree, viticulture and oenology, horticulture and floriculture, zootechnics and aquaculture, forests and wood production). Crea, the new institution, will be reorganized in 28 offices and 10 laboratories, compared to more than 80 offices present today, including the central administration in Rome and 19 regional districts, either based on the research  structures of the Institution already operating in the territory or on facilities made available by institutional entities with which CREA collaborates.

 CREA collaborates with the project as an observer and a reference point for the Scientific Committee and for the collection of scientific content, according to its function of controlling and addressing scientific activity on national territory and its constant monitoring and comparison with research facilities.

Other stakeholders involved:

The involvement of the Regions Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Tuscany, Umbria and the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano, that has participated in the EXPO 2015 interregional coordination, is expected.

 This type of collaboration takes place in the second phase of the project, both through the participation of the research organisations for dissemination and sharing of content and through collaboration and participation in online events and training.

Local Partner: Biotehnički fakultet u Podgorici (The Faculty of Biotecnology of Podgorica, Montenegro)

The Faculty of Biotechnology of Podgorica is the oldest research institute in Montenegro. Its experimental unit, the Center for Subtropical Cultures, was founded in Bar in 1937. Immediately after the Second World War, the Institute for Agricultural Research in Titograd (today Podgorica) and the Department of Zootechnics in Niksic were founded, while Bar's experimental station has been transformed into the Agency for Southern cultivation and Viticulture. In 1950, the Diagnostic-Veterinary Station has been established in Titograd and in 1952 the Fruit Growing Station in Bijelo Polje was open. Since 1960, all these units have become part of the Agrarian Institute and of the Faculty of Biotechnology of Podgorica. Today, the Institute includes 10 research centres: the Field Reclamation Centre, the Fodder Cultivation and Field Cultivation Centre, the Viticulture, Wine and Fruit Growth Centre, the Plant Protection Centre, The Centre for Zootechnics, the Veterinary and Freshwater Fishing Centre, the Centre for Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, the Forestry Centre, the Subtropical Culture Centre of Bar and the Continental Fruit Growing Centre in Bijelo Polje. Its primary mission is the higher and university education of young people through the application of the most modern and significant methods, education techniques, according to the European lines in the field of agricultural sciences, seen as the strategic branch for the country development. It is a recognised organisation in the national and international scientific field with many professional successes in the agricultural sector. The challenge is to promote agricultural production in Montenegro and bring it equal to international competition by accepting the challenges of multifunctional agriculture.

Local Parnter: Centar Izvrsnosti u Bioinformatici (BIO-ICT) (Centre for Excellence in Bioinformatics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering  Montenegro)

 The Centre is a start-up project, started in 2014 thanks to the partnership between the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the Faculty of Biotechnology, the Institute of Marine Biology and the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro. Two international universities are also partners of the centre: the St. Petersburg Scientific and Research Centre for Ecological Security and the Danish Telecom Infrastructure Centre (CTIF). Two successful Montenegrin SMEs collaborate on the project: COGI and Green House Jovović. The project's mission is to develop the BIO-ICT centre - an innovation centre for the agricultural and maritime sector. A technology platform for the management of various services related to sustainable agriculture and monitoring of crops, forests and water / sea ecosystems is being developed; related to the development of control techniques for the reduction of atmospheric pollution; analysis and standardization of food products; soil quality control; related to the improvement of the public health sector. The platform aims to increase the use of the latest ICT technologies in the fields of agriculture, marine biology and environmental monitoring to improve its economic, social and environmental efficiency and sustainability. The service platform will be modular and extend to other sectors such as healthcare, transportation, smart cities, smart objects, and so on.

Local partner: Poljuprivredni Fakultet Novi Sad (The University of Agriculture of NoviSad, Serbia)

It was founded in 1954 with the mission of educating young people and scholars in the field of agriculture, developing research activities and helping to intensify and increase agricultural production in the country. After the foundation of the University of Novi Sad, the Faculty of Agriculture became one of its first constituent members. Today, it is one of the largest educational and scientific institutions in the field of agriculture in Serbia and it is a reference point for the neighbouring countries of Eastern Europe. The results of the research activities, conducted at the University, have contributed significantly to the development of technological processes in the field of agricultural production - herbaceous crops, animal science, fruit and viticulture, pesticides and other branches of agriculture. For several decades, it has distinguished itself both on the national and international level, for the production of a large variety of high-yield crops, sugar beet, fodder, barley, hops, vegetables, grapes, high hybrid corn, and variety and sunflower hybrids. It manages and publishes the monthly magazine dedicated to Contemporary Agriculture (The Serbian Journal of Agricultural Sciences).

The involvement of local partners is through collaboration with the exchange of the digital content for the portal and through the dissemination and promotion of the technological platform on the local level, in addition to the additional collaboration between the institutions on other innovative projects.