Water–food–energy nexus: Assessing challenges in the trend toward digitalization: The case study of an Italian winemaking industry

Data driven food-manufacturing systems assure cost reduction, increased efficiency, improved product quality. These elements come together in a virtuous circle of digital transformation centered on sustainability. Viticulture is among the first applications of the smart-agriculture concept. Precision viticulture has become one of the agribusiness sectors where there is the great attempt to apply the principles of Agrifood 4.0. However, when shifting the focus from raw materials production (e.g., grapes) to their processing into a final product (e.g., wine), measured water and energy consumption fluxes may go in and out a black box rather than being detailed at each operational unit level. Within the food industries panorama, the wine industry may be the most complex, making the upgrade of the traditional wine industry into a digital one burdensome. Indeed, big data centralization is a priority that allows enter- prises to transmit real-time information in terms of process behavior and performance and enables process optimization engineers to spot the energy inefficiencies and the options for process integration for water recycling. The Italian wine industry is strongly committed to sustainability and a case study is here proposed as an example to discuss the challenges in the trend toward digitalization in the winemaking sector.