The aim of the FoodDecide research project was to develop software solutions for data-supported decision-making in Montenegrin food companies and government authorities, which on the one hand increase food safety and on the other hand speed up investigations in the event of a food-borne disease outbreak. In the joint project, the German project partners Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) and Kühne Logistics University (KLU) worked together with the Montenegrin partner University of Donja Gorica (UDG). The project built on research work carried out by the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and KLU, which had already developed the first open-source software solutions for modelling food supply chains. Furthermore, the harmonised format FSKX (FAIR Scientific Knowledge eXchange) developed by the RAKIP initiative (Risk Assessment Knowledge Integration Platform) for the exchange of information and so-called Virtual Research Environments (
VREshort forVancomycin-resistant Enterococcus) for knowledge integration and exchange were used.A website was set up within the
VREshort forVancomycin-resistant Enterococcus to disseminate the results and serve as a knowledge bank for the project. With regard to the establishment of standardised information exchange formats, the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has developed a white paper for a standardised exchange file format for commodity chain models based on the FSKX format. The white paper also addresses the use of the FSKX standard for a possible exchange of traceability data between food companies and authorities. The use of the EPCIS standard (Electronic Product Code Information Services) is recommended in order to give data owners full control over their data. In this context, the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment presented a proof-of-concept implementation of a back-end service based on the EPCIS standard to the project consortium. The project partner UDG developed a business plan for a Montenegrin start-up called "DataBite". The start-up is specialised on innovative data analysis consulting services for food entrepreneurs and food testing laboratories. The WarenstromInfo tool, which was originally developed by the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment to visualise international trade flows, was significantly expanded as part of the FoodDecide project to facilitate the extraction of data from databases such as BACI and EUROSTAT. In the project,
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has further developed the Python library "Supply Chain Model Helper" (SCMH), which offers functions for creating supply chain models in order to support their development and implementation. In addition,
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and UDG have developed the Python KNIME node "Supplychain visualisation node", which enables simple visualisation of trade flows between countries. The node is publicly accessible on the KNIME hub. The algorithms developed in the project for the gravity and outbreak models were implemented in the FSKX format with the support of the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and made available in the RAKIP web model repository. These models are used to recognise distribution patterns and foodborne disease outbreaks. With the "Food Security Resource Repository", the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has established a web-based overview of software applications that enables food authorities to quickly obtain an overview of software systems for food production and supply security forecasts. The Open tool to trace food-borne outbreaks developed by the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment serves to facilitate the identification of food-borne outbreaks. The tool uses OpenStreetMap to identify restaurants and/or supermarkets within specific areas. In the project, the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and UDG developed the Food Process App. This app is a simple and user-friendly tool with which food process chains can be created via an intuitive graphical user interface and enriched with relevant process data, such as temperature-time profiles, process duration and ingredient quantities. With the help of the food process app, a database of process information from traditional Montenegrin food recipes was created. As a software application for the catering industry, UDG has developed the MontEat app, a platform to promote the diversity of gastronomic offerings in Montenegro. As part of the project, the
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and UDG developed and prototyped various extension options for this app. Another software solution developed by UDG is "HoneyChain". This tool is based on blockchain technology and can be used for the traceability of traditional Montenegrin food products. The aim of the software is to improve the monitoring system for honey products.