Synergy Days
The Synergy Days is the key conference connecting digital innovators across Europe’s agri-food sector — from EU and national projects to EDIHs/DIHs, clusters, tech providers, researchers and SMEs. This year’s edition is hosted by the SmartAgriHubs Community and supported by the AgData partnership. Join us for two days of plenaries, pitches, workshops and hands-on collaboration to accelerate the digital transition of Europe’s food system.
Tickets & details: Register via the Synergy Portal.
Synergy Days 2025 brings together Europe’s agri-food digital innovators — EU and national projects, EDIHs/DIHs, clusters, tech providers, researchers, and SMEs. Hosted by the SmartAgriHubs Community and supported by the AgData partnership, it’s two days of plenaries, pitches, workshops, and hands-on collaboration to accelerate the sector’s digital transition.
This year, SS4AF/HIGHFIVE, SIXFOLD, and Phorwards21 present a focused programme on impact and photonics-enabled quality monitoring in food. Highlights include an interactive workshop, “Photonics 4 Quality Monitoring,”with a live Sensor Catalogue demo, real-world use cases (including HIGHFIVE pilots), and small-group discussions on challenges, deep-tech opportunities, and collaboration across companies, tech providers, and living labs.?
Resources
Practical information
When
Where
Program
21 October - Tuesday
9:00 - 10:15
Digital innovation ecosystem development in agri-food
This session focuses on building sustainable digital innovation ecosystems in the agri-food sector by reducing fragmentation and improving coordination among EU and national projects, European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), farmers, and other key stakeholders. Joined by Veerle De Graef, Flanders' FOOD, coordinator of HIGHFIVE
10:15 – 10:45
Project Pitches I – HIGHFIVE
A pitch from the HIGHFIVE portfolio spotlight practical digital solutions for food processors—from smart quality monitoring to data-driven production. Discover scalable tools you can pilot now and meet the teams behind them for follow-up matchmaking.
11:15 – 12:45
Workshop Session I - Impact workshop – food processing projects: Now and tomorrow by HIGHFIVE & SIXFOLD
This interactive workshop invites participants to explore how food processing projects, particularly those under the HIGHFIVE initiative, can generate meaningful, long-term impact across Europe’s agri-food ecosystem. It draws lessons from HIGHFIVE and complementary projects such as SIXFOLD and SS4AF.
15:00 – 15:30
Project Pitches II – SIXFOLD
Showcases from SIXFOLD’s Living Labs demonstrate how real-world testbeds help food processors and tech providers co-create, validate, and de-risk digital solutions. Each pitch highlights the path from pilot to scale—what was tested, what worked, and how you can join the next round of trials and partnerships.
22 October - Wednesday
11:15 – 12:45
Workshop session III - Photonics 4 quality monitoring: Smart solutions driving the food industry forward by Phorwards21, HIGHFIVE & SIXFOLD
Photonics and sensor technologies are transforming the agri-food sector, enabling smarter, safer, and more sustainable production. This session highlights their role in digitalising food value chains — from real-time quality monitoring to smart sorting and traceability.
Organised by Phorwards21, HIGHFIVE, and SIXFOLD, the workshop features a Sensor Catalogue demo, a panel discussion, and real-world use cases. In small groups, participants will explore challenges, opportunities, and future directions.
Fire starter - discussion with Lex Oosterveeld (imec), Pavel Paclik (Datavia), and Petra Wicherink (PhotonicsNL)
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