KEEPER: nanomaterial-based key code to protect services and products
The project funded under the European Eic Transition Call for Proposals
Today, counterfeit products have a serious impact on the global economy and can have a negative impact on safety, health and the environment due to the lower quality of their components. The scale of the problem is estimated to reach USD 3 billion by 2022, costing EU businesses EUR 121 billion in lost sales and more than 671,000 jobs.
KEEPER is a project that aims to provide a new technological solution to this challenge: it is the first system to combine a unique identification code with a virtually infinite number of combinations (over 1024) to certify product authenticity, with an unprecedented level of security, ease of use and affordability.
It is an innovative, customisable solution based on two main assets: nano-engineered inks that can be applied to documents or product packaging as adhesive tags or printed directly on specific points (3Tag), and a highly selective verification technique using a dedicated reader (3Check). The specificity of the inks, the encoding sequence and the reading method make this technology extremely difficult, if not impossible, to replicate through reverse engineer.
The KEEPER project, which involves university and private partners from Italy, Poland and Austria, was recently awarded over €2 million by the European Innovation Council (EIC) as part of the “EIC Transition” call for proposals, which aims to support the maturation and laboratory validation of new technologies developed in European funded projects and their introduction to the market.
The European Innovation Council is Europe’s flagship programme for technological innovation and this is the first time that a project presented by Politecnico di Milano as lead partner has received this type of support. In total, this EIC Transition call has funded 34 projects across Europe, of which six in Italy and only three with a university as coordinator,
says Prof. Carlo S. Casari, Department of Energy at Politecnico di Milano, leader of KEEPER and former holder of the ERC Consolidator Grant EspLORE, the ERC Proof of Concept Grants PROTECHT and PYPAINT.
