From Smart Traps to a Sovereign National Insect Database: Open-Source Local AI for Pest Monitoring

Europe needs pest-monitoring infrastructures that keep strategic agricultural data, software and operational know-how under European control. Building on the experience gained through INSTINCT, a project co-financed by the European Union under the ERDF 2021–2027 Programme of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano–South Tyrol, this talk presents a scale-up scenario centred on a national, cloud-based insect-monitoring database fed by smart traps, environmental sensors and expert-validated observations. The proposed infrastructure would be governed by a Bolzano-based partnership bringing together the research expertise of the Laimburg Research Centre and Eurac Research, the academic expertise of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, and the local technological capabilities of FOS S.p.A.
A local application can acquire trap images, perform AI-based insect detection and counting using open-source tools and models such as YOLO and GNU Linux OS, support expert review and correction, and then transmit validated data to the central national repository. The application may also include project-specific software components that are not distributed as open source. The architecture separates local analysis from national data consolidation: processing may remain on premises or at the edge, while authorised observations are collected in a single controlled database hosted and managed under European jurisdiction.
The presentation will discuss interoperability, traceability, data quality, model reuse and long-term independence from extra-European proprietary platforms, using Cydia pomonella as the initial use case and extending the approach to other insect species and territories.