A joint research and transfer project entitled “SustainChain” has recently been launched by Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE, the Friends of Digital Farming network, and the German Agricultural Society (DLG). The aim is to demonstrate the benefits of digital data rooms for sustainability. The project aims to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) along the agricultural and food value chain in implementing digitally supported sustainability requirements and participating in corresponding data rooms.

The agri-food sector is facing increasing regulatory requirements, growing cost pressure, and increasing complexity due to digitalization. SMEs in particular often lack clear guidance on which data, systems, and standards are necessary to efficiently and economically map issues such as carbon footprint, sustainability compliance, or circular economy. This is exactly where “SustainChain” comes in.

Development of practical guidelines
The project, which is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) with around €175,000, focuses on the development of practical guidelines and a domain-wide reference model for digital value chains. At its core is a so-called Reference Designation System (RDS), which acts as a digital “map” describing how businesses, technical systems, data flows, and processes must interact interoperably in order to implement sustainability requirements in a measurable, documentable, and connectable manner in emerging agricultural data spaces.

This is being investigated using specific use cases:

• CO₂ footprint in milk and meat production,
• sustainability compliance in fruit and vegetable production,
• circular economy in food processing.

Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences contributes its expertise in the analysis and modeling of digital value creation processes and in application-oriented research. Fraunhofer IESE is responsible for the systematic interoperability and architecture analysis in the context of data rooms. Friends of Digital Farming ensure close integration with practice, networks, and downstream value creation stages. The DLG provides technical support for the project and ensures the transfer of results into agricultural practice.

Great ecological and economic potential
“Our aim is to make digitalization and sustainability tangible for businesses – not in an abstract way, but in line with real work processes and concrete decisions in everyday business life,” emphasizes Prof. Dr.-Ing. Benjamin Weinert, Professor of Business Informatics, specializing in IT enterprise architecture, at the Lingen campus of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. “SustainChain” provides understandable recommendations for action, checklists, and technical guidance to help companies secure their competitiveness while measurably improving their environmental impact and becoming compatible with current and future data room activities.

Dr. Susanne Wiese-Willmaring, the responsible DBU consultant, emphasizes: “The project specifically addresses the challenges that SMEs face as a result of the dual transformation of digitalization and sustainability.” Successful digitalization of these businesses offers “great ecological and economic potential.” In order to exploit this potential, it is essential to have a needs-based overview of existing digital solutions. “The project can provide targeted support in this regard,” says Wiese-Willmaring.

The project thus contributes to the dual transformation of the agrifood sector and supports SMEs in integrating themselves early and confidently into digital value chains and agricultural data rooms.

Contact (Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences)
Project management: Prof. Benjamin Weinert, PhD
Institute for Management and Technology, Lingen Campus
Email: benjamin.weinert@hs-osnabrueck.de

Phone: +49 (0)591 80098 458