Climate Fund to accelerate the digitalisation of the food chain through DataSpace Europe

The agricultural sector accounts for roughly a sixth of Finland’s carbon footprint. Digitalisation plays an important role in accelerating agricultural emissions reductions. Agricultural emissions are generated from a multitude of sources, which cannot be addressed by any single technological solution.

”Solving climate change requires the creation of new physical, but also digital infrastructure. DataSpace Europe's data intermediation service is an example of the kinds of digital capabilities we need to solve our sustainability challenges. DataSpace Europe's solution, when successful, can enable a significant change in food production, both in terms of lower emissions and productivity”, says Climate Fund CEO Paula Laine.

The data intermediation service allows food chain service providers and research institutions to build services and products for businesses and consumers alike. The intermediation service is one of the means for supporting emissions reductions in the agricultural sector, for example through accurate calculation of the carbon footprint of food products. Simultaneously, it accelerates digitalisation in the sector and improves traceability, which consumers requested.

”We function like a mobile operator, enabling easy and reliable data transfers based on agreements between the parties. Combining this data, on the other hand, enables the creation of entirely novel services and innovations. The Climate Fund's financing helps us get the service up and running faster and enables the creation of emissions-reducing services that much quicker”, says DataSpace Europe CEO Kari Järvinen.

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DataSpace Europe’s solution:

DataSpace Europe Oy was founded in 2022 and is owned by the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), Cinia Oy, JSK Kiinteistöt and Tikura Ventures. DataSpace Europe Oy will file the notification required by the Data Governance Act about the start of data intermediation services to the competent authority, which will be determined at a later date.

DataSpace Europe follows the European Commission's data strategy and Data Governance Act and is committed to promoting a fair data economy in its operations. The data conveyed through the intermediation service can only be accessed by the authorised parties, the benefits obtained from the data are shared by all parties according to their agreement, and DataSpace Europe will not store the data. The company does not create the service products itself but enables data transfers and encounters between operators in the sector.

The Finnish agricultural sector's 29% emissions reduction target means a reduction of approximately 4.6 Mt CO2-eq in annual emissions from the current annual emissions of 16 Mt CO2-eq. DataSpace Europe is one of the indirect means for supporting the creation of emissions reductions in an important domestic effort sharing sector. Indirect emissions reductions mean that the company’s technology enables the identification of emissions or provides services for identifying emissions, but the final reductions depend on the corrective action taken by the company’s customers instead of directly from the technology or product of the company being financed.

Data sharing and the development of new methods play a role in improving the efficiency of production, and more accurate measurement and data also supports emissions verification and the launch of emissions reduction measures. The intermediation service gives farmers a framework for improving the yield of their fields both qualitatively and quantitatively, which in turn improves the opportunities for addressing issues such as biodiversity through the use of benchmark data on best farming practices.

The data intermediation service will be launched in the food chain, but the system can be applied to other sectors as well in the future.

The company has raised €3.3 million in funding to date. The Climate Fund's €1 million capital loan with a profit component is priced at the market rate.

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DataSpace Europe Oy is a company established in 2022 that designs, establishes and maintains data spaces and data intermediation services for various sectors. DataSpace Europe's first data intermediation service, Tritom, brings food industry players like farms, the food industry and retail together in an innovative way.