Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) and Italy’s National Research Council (Cnr) have signed a framework agreement to collaborate on scientific research and joint projects on urban intelligence and smart cities.

The programmes and initiatives launched will mainly focus on strengthening the Cnr’s Urban Intelligence Virtual Laboratory, through new research synergies with private stakeholders and scientific collaboration in this area, including through joint activities. One area of collaboration will be the “Digital Twin Cities project”, which uses integrated digital systems, widespread sensors and predictive analytics to virtually replicate the city and its systems, with the goal of pinpointing a new model of urban planning and management. 

The agreement follows on from a successful collaboration for the recent “TIM Smart City Challenge”, a scouting initiative to foster the growth of the Italian Smart City ecosystem. This involved more than 170 start-ups, scale-ups and innovative businesses, who presented solutions to make cities ever smarter, safer and more sustainable, through applications which can be integrated into the urban intelligence platform, TIM Urban Genius.

The framework agreement, which lasts for four years and is renewable, was signed by Maria Chiara Carrozza, the President of the National Research Council, and Elio Schiavo, TIM’s Chief Enterprise & Innovative Solutions Officer.

“Accelerating urbanisation and the concentration of the population in cities, together with increasing resource scarcity and the effects of climate change, require smart urban ecosystem management policies”, the President of the National Research Council, Maria Chiara Carrozza said. “The Cnr’s Urban Intelligence Project aims to equip urban governance with the digital tools required to tackle the challenges it faces, as well as to meet the sustainability goals set in the UN 2030 Agenda: urban policies for access to infrastructure and social services, housing, education, healthcare assistance, recreational activities, mobility and a safe environment. The collaboration with TIM and the opportunity to use the data collected in the TIM Urban Genius platform will enable Cnr to create simulators that can improve efficiency and resilience in the management of urban environments”.

“We are proud to collaborate with Italy’s most important research body in one of the areas, Smart Cities, on which we are focusing a large part of our strategy. This initiative marks an important step forward in the consolidation of our role as sector leaders, both in terms of expertise and in the provision of technological solutions. The TIM Urban Genius platform, thanks to its ability to rapidly integrate services and algorithms, including from third parties, and to cover the main aspects related to city and territorial management from an end-to-end perspective, is proving to be a cornerstone in building the cities of the future”, said Elio Schiavo, TIM chief executive.