ANCI and Telecom Italia today signed a memorandum of understanding that will lead to the start-up of a “Smart Cities Laboratory”. President of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) Sergio Chiamparino and Telecom Italia Chairman Gabriele Galateri di Genola were present at the event.
Under ANCI’s preferred pre-competitive Laboratory format, the Association (as supervisor and coordinator) and Telecom Italia (as technology partner) will work together alongside participating municipalities, starting with the municipalities of Piacenza and Prato, to develop innovative planning solutions tailored to meet municipalities’ specific needs and capable of improving energy efficiency, environmental monitoring, communication with citizens, and the promotion of tourism. The “Smart Cities Laboratory” will make it possible to evaluate the on-the-ground application of planned solutions, and to establish guidelines for evolving urban areas towards an “intelligent city” model, supporting municipalities as they implement these solutions in their local areas.
Starting with the public lighting network – once it has been equipped with sensors linked to the telecommunications network – the Laboratory will help to identify ways in which public service network infrastructures can help municipalities become more efficient in the provision of traditional services, achieve significant savings, and provide innovative services to the general public.
The “Smart Cities Laboratory” will initially focus on the following issues: in the Municipality of Piacenza, communication with citizens, connectivity solutions in public areas, mobility and car park monitoring, and video surveillance; in the Municipality of Prato, security-oriented solutions planning for video surveillance, remote sensing of critical events for the community, and energy efficiency.
As technology partner, Telecom Italia will be providing all necessary support for planning technology-based solutions in the specific spheres of operation, leveraging the work of its in-house TILab Research Center and the Smart Services Cooperation Lab, which the company has established jointly with the CNR and Italy’s Ministry for Public Administration and Innovation.
President of ANCI Sergio Chiamparino says: “The agreement between ANCI and Telecom Italia on the Smart Cities Laboratory, which can be iterated with other private entities, is one of a series of initiatives undertaken by ANCI for the general purpose of fostering the evolution of Italian municipalities towards an increasingly sustainable and intelligent urban environment under the “Città IN” initiative, in compliance with recent Community guidance. Through this and future partnerships, our goal is to analyse a variety of approaches to building “intelligent cities” tailored to the varying characteristics of municipalities, their existing infrastructure and organizational structure, so that we have the scope to offer all of our members a clear model built upon a series of foundation services on a broad scale, and foster their take-up as part of the municipal planning process.”
Telecom Italia Chairman Gabriele Galateri di Genola says: “This agreement is a further sign of Telecom Italia’s innovation-driven outlook and commitment to developing digital services for local areas that boost local government competitiveness and improve quality of life for citizens by fostering greater sustainability. The joint decision with ANCI to adopt a Laboratory approach achieves the important goals of developing a clear, preferential relationship with municipalities through ANCI while at the same time offering an opportunity to try out planned solutions conceived to meet individual municipalities’ concrete needs and requirements.”
Padua, 12 November 2010
