On 16 October 2025, a technical workshop was held in Klatovy, Czech Republic within the framework of the THEROS project (Transparent and Traceable Food Value Chain for Organic and Regional Products). The event was organised by WIRELESSINFO in cooperation with Úhlava o.p.s. and Šumavaprodukt s.r.o. and formed part of Work Package 4 – Pilot Implementation, focusing on the practical validation of THEROS tools in a real operational environment.

The main objective of the workshop was to present and test the results of the Czech THEROS pilot, in particular the digital marketplace “Regional Specialties”, its integration with the THEROS platform, and the use of blockchain and IoT technologies to enhance transparency and trust in short food supply chains.

The workshop opened with an overview of the THEROS project delivered by Petr Horák (WIRELESSINFO) (presentation is available here), outlining project objectives, scope and expected impact. THEROS is funded under Horizon Europe, involves 17 partners from six countries, and aims to protect regional brands, prevent fraud, and support small producers through digital solutions.

Digital Marketplace and Hands-on Validation

A central part of the programme focused on the digital marketplace “Regional Specialties”, which represents a key output of the Czech pilot and is available at:
👉 https://trh.regionalnispeciality.cz/

The platform enables regional producers to sell their products through a shared e-commerce environment without the need to operate individual online shops. Participants were introduced to marketplace functionalities from both consumer and seller perspectives, including product discovery, filtering, order creation, payments, product management, pricing, logistics settings, and customer communication.

The hands-on session, led by Petr Uhlíř and Hana Hermannová (WIRELESSINFO), constituted a substantial part of the workshop. Participants actively tested the system by completing the full workflow:

  • customer registration and test purchase,
  • creation of a seller account and shop setup,
  • product insertion with metadata, pricing and images,
  • configuration of delivery and payment options,
  • order processing from the seller side,
  • preparation and dispatch of goods.

This practical validation confirmed the usability of the marketplace for small and medium-sized producers, including those without prior experience in digital sales.

Traceability Technologies: Blockchain and IoT Monitoring

The technical section demonstrated the integration of blockchain-based traceability and IoT-enabled transport monitoring within the THEROS ecosystem. IoT sensors placed in transport boxes monitor temperature, humidity, location and box opening events during delivery. These data are linked to individual orders and stored within the system, allowing verification of compliance with transport conditions.

Key supply-chain events (production, packaging, dispatch) are recorded in the THEROS blockchain infrastructure, ensuring data immutability and enabling transparency for downstream actors and end consumers, for example via QR-code access.

Operational Feedback from the Pilot Region

The workshop also included a presentation by Tomáš Zelený (Šumavaprodukt s.r.o.) (available here), who shared operational experience from using the marketplace in the Klatovy region. His contribution focused on practical aspects of onboarding producers, order fulfilment, logistics constraints, cost structure, and the benefits of a centralised digital sales channel for small regional suppliers.

Feedback and Next Steps

The workshop concluded with a structured KPI-based evaluation following the Learning Histories methodology. Feedback indicated a high level of satisfaction with system usability, functional integration, and the added value of traceability features.

The Czech pilot confirmed the technical maturity and applicability of THEROS solutions, providing a validated reference model for further deployment and replication in other pilot regions.

Press release is available here.

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