Nov 03, 2025

Public workspaceEuropean Digital Innovation Hubs and the Agri-Food Sector: A Scoping Review of Current Knowledge and Sectoral Gaps

DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl88xq8l2w/v1
  • Irina Toma-Constantin1,
  • Ioan Sebastian Brumă1,
  • Oana Coca1,
  • Gavril Ștefan1
  • 1Faculty of Agriculture, Agroeconomy Department, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” Iasi University of Life Sciences, 700490 Iasi, Romania
  • I.TOMA-CONSTANTIN
irinatoma.epm
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DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl88xq8l2w/v1
Protocol Citation: Irina Toma-Constantin, Ioan Sebastian Brumă, Oana Coca, Gavril Ștefan 2025. European Digital Innovation Hubs and the Agri-Food Sector: A Scoping Review of Current Knowledge and Sectoral Gaps. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl88xq8l2w/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,  which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We used this protocol and it worked.
Created: November 02, 2025
Last Modified: November 03, 2025
Protocol Integer ID: 231352
Keywords: policy literature on european digital innovation hub, european digital innovation hub, sectoral gaps the research protocol, food sector, research protocol, scoping review of current knowledge, research, google scholar, agri, key knowledge gap, prevailing research theme, future research, scopus, research theme, edih interaction
Funders Acknowledgements:
: This research was funded by the European Union through the North-East Regional Program 2021–2027 (Romania), part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Iasi University of Life Sciences
Grant ID: Project SMIS Code 335643
Abstract
The research protocol of our study outlines a PRISMA-ScR–based scoping review that systematically maps all academic and policy literature on European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) in the agri-food sector (2016–2025) to identify prevailing research themes, methodological patterns, and key knowledge gaps, using searches in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Data were extracted and synthesized thematically across four levels of EDIH interaction (internal, ecosystem, supra-national, and network) to inform future research and policy directions.
Attachments
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Guidelines
This review follows the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) framework (Tricco et al., 2018).
Materials
Literature databases: Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, MDPI database, ResearchGate.
Software: Zotero (reference management), Microsoft Excel (data extraction and coding), Microsoft Word (manuscript preparation), Claude Sonnet 4.0 / ChatGPT-5 (AI-assisted synthesis verification).
Documentation: PRISMA-ScR checklist, EC and JRC reports on Digital Innovation Hubs, Horizon 2020 and Digital Europe Programme guidelines.
Supplementary files: Scoping Review Protocol, PRISMA-ScR checklist, coding manual, PRISMA flow diagram, and data extraction table (Appendices A–D).
Troubleshooting
Objectives
Identify and classify the academic and policy literature addressing DIHs in the agrifood sector.
Examine the main research themes, methods, and regional focuses.
Highlight gaps and future research directions.
Review Type and Framework
This scoping review follows the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) framework (Tricco et al., 2018) applied retroactively.
Methods
Eligibility criteria: Publications addressing DIHs or related digitalization support structures in the agrifood sector (2016–2025), including peer-reviewed articles, EU policy documents, and JRC or Horizon Europe reports. As a result of this process, 84 papers met the criteria for inclusion in the final selection of articles for both abstract and in-depth analysis. These included publications explicitly referring to the concepts of DIH or EDIH (as defined by the EC since 2015) in the title, abstract, or main text, published in peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, book chapters, and doctoral theses, as well as reports on the topic published by the JRC. No restrictions were applied regarding disciplinary field, methodological approach, or publication year.
Information sources: Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched using the following Boolean strings: “DIGITAL INNOVATION HUB” or “DIGITAL INNOVATION HUB”, AND “AGRICULTURE”.
Selection process: Titles and abstracts of articles were screened by IT-C against the eligibility criteria.
Data charting: Data were extracted into a table recording author, year, method, sector, and thematic level. Due to the exploratory nature of the review, the charting process focused on identifying major conceptual and methodological trends rather than exhaustive quantitative coding. Information was summarized narratively across major themes (e.g., governance, funding, digital maturity).
Synthesis: Results were discussed based on the 4 levels of EDIH interaction based on the classification of Serrano-Ruiz et al. (2024), namely DIH level, DIH ecosystem level, the EDIH level and EDIH network level. Under each of these levels, results were presented thematically and based on the methodology of the studies.
Registration and Availability
This Scoping Review is registered with the protocols.io under registration link: https://www.protocols.io/view/european-digital-innovation-hubs-and-the-agri-food-hd6yb29fx.
All materials (protocol, PRISMA-ScR checklist, and search strategy) are openly available there.
Protocol references
References
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