The sustainability of cattle production relies on improved resource use efficiency, reduced GHG emissions, and improved animal health and welfare. Facing this challenge require far more complex animal traits than previously that need to be assessed under a range of conditions. It is now time to look for means to phenotype complex animal traits using smart technologies and rapid analytical methods in a standardised way applied in many contexts. The SmartCow infrastructure project (www.smartcow.eu) was selected by the European Commission for 4 years from 1st February 2018. The project will ensure that existing guidelines are adopted (e.g. ICAR guidelines) and work towards the use of unified measurement methods when no international standard is existing. The development of the cattle ontology of traits (ATOL) and the ontology of environmental conditions (EOL) will be an important step to unify research methodologies. Refining in vivo methods to evaluate feed efficiency and gas emissions will generate innovations in experimental design for more accuracy. The development of new biomarkers (proxies) that can be easily measured in milk, faeces, urine, or blood through rapid analytical methods (e.g. infrared spectroscopy) will bring new phenotyping capacities. The development of tools to generate new and improved information from animal sensors and other routinely collected data (e.g. prediction of individual cow status in terms of health and welfare) will also enable a more efficient phenotyping and genetic selection of cattle. Finally, transnational access to 11 major research infrastructures will provide access to around 2500 dairy and 1000 beef cattle and generate new phenotyping opportunities in research projects to be financed by the SmartCow project. Eleven projects have already been selected after the first call.