The general Challenge was the enhancement of competitiveness through digital solutions that strengthen supply chains within the agri-food sector. As many sectors, agri-food is severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This impact will be even deeper in regions where there are more barriers that shrink opportunities for a prosper future. The Macaronesia region, made up of islands, gathers several aspects that, together, put the agri-food sector in a poor condition: 

• Outermost region: Being an outermost region involves several weaknesses itself. Remoteness, poor connection and high economic dependency on a few sectors mainly services are some of the barriers an outermost island has to deal with. Now, COVID-19 has even worsened those aspects. 

• Water resources: Although an island is surrounded by water, ironically water access is a major problem. The proper management of water in islands is extremely essential as one of the main water supplies for irrigation is based on desalted water, very demanding energy process. This is an issue in order to follow the principles of the Green Deal on sustainable food system. 

• Limited space: An island is a small portion of land surrounded by water. Therefore, unlike mainland, optimization of space for agricultural crops is crucial. 

• Food security: Poverty affects the 36% of population in Macaronesia. As an example, in the Canary Islands there are a total of six social canteens in the entire region. Situation in Azores and Madeira is similar. Azores islands are the Portuguese region with the highest poverty rate with even fewer social canteens than CIR. A better management of resources is needed to provide efficient and sustainable solution to nourishment access. 

These different challenges were the main topic for this hackathon.