Foodintech recognised as “Best Startup” at the Portugal Digital Awards
Foodintech recognised as “Best Startup” at the Portugal Digital Awards
The “Best Startup” award of the Portugal Digital Awards recognises the work that the team led by Miguel Fernandes has been doing for over ten years.
We’re talking about a system, IFishCan, which offers SMEs in the food sector an opportunity to temporarily test advanced digital tools, reducing waste and the environmental impact of their production operations. The project, co-financed by the European Union and organised by EIT Digital, EIT Foods and EIT Manufacturing, earned Flow – also known as Foodintech – the “Best Startup” award at the 8th Portugal Digital Awards.
“The product consisted of implementing a technological ecosystem integrating IOT (integration of equipment; machines and sensors); MES – Manufacturing Execution System (comprehensive industrial production control software) and AI (data processing based on Artificial Intelligence) that was easily adaptable, scalable, with a high degree of customisation for different types of industry and products,” explains Miguel Fernandes, managing director of the University of Porto spin-off company that developed the project.
The solution is highly adaptable to different industrial ecosystems. Also, it has the advantage of offering “predictive power, through Artificial Intelligence, in the decision-making process on issues such as water optimisation and energy use”. It was developed to be complete, integrating production, quality and logistics and thus enabling “the technological structure of an industry to be simplified”, explains Miguel Fernandes, as well as to be cost-effective for SMEs.
For the U.Porto spin-off company – currently incubated at UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of University of Porto – the Best Startup award at the Portugal Digital Awards is an essential recognition of a project they’ve been working on for over ten years.
“It’s been a long and complex road, full of challenges, but always without losing focus on the value we bring to Portuguese industries,” says Miguel Fernandes. The company intends to continue its mission of “supporting the digitalisation of industry through the integration of an ecosystem of technologies within what is Industry 4.0”, concludes the head of Flow.
Portugal Digital Awards: the best of digital transformation
A joint initiative between Axians and IDC, the Portugal Digital Awards aims to highlight the best of what is being done in Portugal regarding digital transformation. The awards are divided into three categories: Digital Transformation, Digital Industry, and Digital Grand Awards.
The 2023 edition received 300 applications. The awards were presented at a ceremony held on 29 November at the Casino Estoril.
December 18th 2023