Besides natural disasters, there are several factors that threaten food safety, such as changing food preferences, political instability and food fraud. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), about 108 million people faced severe global food security crises in 2017. With the world’s population growing rapidly, this number is expected to exceed 10 billion by 2050.
Growing demand for food supplies by a growing population could exacerbate food security deficiencies, leading to poor food quality, food waste, and substandard monitoring and inspections along food supply chains. may be done. Increasing and maintaining food security therefore requires a more sustainable, measurable and digitally visible food system.
To this end, ICT can be used to support collaboration, prevent fraud, and provide remote real-time monitoring. ICT tools such as “It represents one of the most vivid transformative processes in the world’s agriculture and food systems today.”na
In a review led by the KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Indian researchers summarize how various ICT tools can help “sense and quantify” the food system, and what Industry 5.0 technologies bring to the food industry. I tried to highlight possible enhancements. .
Industry 5.0: DT, Data Analytics, AI
While many companies are still focused on Industry 4.0 (essentially the fourth industrial revolution brought about by the development of IT), Industry 5.0 is a somewhat novel concept, but in this review the food system point to the latter as a focus for addressing food insecurity.
The EU defines Industry 5.0 as: “Providing a vision of an industry whose sole goal is efficiency and productivity”When “We use new technologies to provide prosperity beyond work and growth, while respecting the planet’s production limits.”In other words, technology should be harnessed to improve the well-being of society.
The main driving forces of Industry 5.0 are artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Everything (IoE), 6G communication technology, blockchain technology, digital twin (DT), big data analytics, cloud computing (CC), collaborative robots ( cobot). These drivers have great potential to improve processes throughout the food supply chain, from the agricultural production process to the food distribution and retail stages.
For example, DT is expected to help enhance food production, identify supply chain failures and their causes, and optimize decision making while minimizing food loss. His proposed DT of the food supply chain consists of three elements: A physical element consisting of multiple sensors to collect data at the food production site, a digital element containing relevant information collected from these sensors, and a connectivity element that facilitates the interaction of the data. the first two elements.
It is then included in the DT. “Various data analysis, optimization approaches and simulation platforms”This includes software and AI techniques to identify potential food processing issues that affect food quality and lead to food waste. In addition, it provides feedback to improve process performance and product quality, as well as actionable data (such as remaining shelf life) that aids the decision-making process.At the same time, IoE is “Huge data collection capacity”This will require new schemes to ensure trust and traceability within the food system.
The large amount of data collected requires proper data processing to store and extract important information. That’s where CC comes in. This allows users to directly and securely access data from the cloud for further analysis. Relevant data can then be used to predict trends and quality parameters in food processing and traceability systems, thereby enhancing supply management.
Get rid of blockers with blockchain technology
In addition to data monitoring and collection, data security and transparency are essential to the success of Industry 5.0. Blockchain technology has so far been able to provide more robust data security through decentralized and distributed ledger systems that use cryptographic algorithms and smart contracts to automate the process of agreement between various parties. rice field. In fact, it is nearly impossible to manipulate the data recorded on the blockchain, thus improving trust among those involved in the food system.
Blockchain technology can help with food supply chain traceability as it can solve problems in multiple situations. “Unreliable player”.This is especially important in food safety management in the agrifood supply chain, where trust between participants is critical. In times of crisis, blockchain technology can optimize the process of tracing back operations in the food supply chain to find the source of problems such as food contamination.
Additionally, blockchain-based systems are more homogeneous, enabling interoperability across multiple entities and diverse supply chains in the food supply chain.Reviews said this would bring “Taking the issue of food recall traceability and capacity to a higher level”,In accordance with food safety standards,
Already, companies such as Walmart, Nestle, European retailer Carrefour, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, Dutch supermarket chain Albert Hein and others have started to introduce the technology into their food supply chains. For example, Carrefour uses it to verify standards and track the origin of food.
Cobots and 6G
Industry 5.0 seeks to harness human capabilities in tandem with robots (cobots). Cobots are typically equipped with responsive smart sensors that can detect unwanted activity. “Resource efficient solutions preferred by users and fast product delivery to customers”.It also helps improve productivity in the food supply chain.
The review notes that the use of cobots that can work in parallel with human labor has not been adequately explored and that their integration is a possibility. “We can transform the food processing industry to increase utilization of highly skilled workers and reduce health risks through safe collaboration with human workers.”na
The review also noted that the rapid growth of potential applications of existing 5G communication technologies is driving the advancement of new technologies to meet the resulting bandwidth and infrastructure requirements. This brings us to his 6G technology, another key driver of Industry 5.0. This is expected to be witnessed in the next decade.
6G helps meet coverage, reliability and connection speed requirements and support “High quality service in the supply chain process”. 6G “is expected to enhance the capabilities of existing communication technologies”Helps improve industrial productivity. This will undoubtedly support the other key drivers of Industry 5.0 mentioned above, and in doing so, create a more efficient, safer and more well-equipped infrastructure to solve food insecurity related problems. Establish a robust food supply chain.
Other considerations
The review concludes that despite the potential for ICT to have a positive impact on the food supply chain and thus food security in general, the implementation of ICT should not lead to lost or diminished benefits and should be evaluated cautiously. concluded that there is a need.
This review focuses on how the food industry can benefit from ICT. “Modernization of food storage, processing and distribution facilities must be undertaken together with reducing information gaps between countries, especially in long and complex food systems.”na
Source: Sensor
https://doi.org/10.3390/s22218377
“Towards Better Food Security Using Industry 5.0 Concepts”
Author: Selvakumar Guruswamy, et al.
