Siena, Piazza del Campo
Utilities
and the
Smart Cities
of the future
The opinion of
Raffele Bonardi,
CEO of Citelum Italia
T
he city will increasingly be at the centre of a new
urban development, partly because over the next
50 years the cities will have to contain two thirds
of the world’s population, instead of the half of today.
In this scenario, the Smart Cities might be the only
antidote to the pollution and overcrowding that
will ensue. What role do Utilities have in this process?
What can they offer in this transformation?
Beside the services in itself, surely the know-how
and the experience will become an irreplaceable
decision support for administrations, which must
first obtain a development project and indicate
a direction. According to the project, the Utility
becomes a partner able to develop an ad hoc
platform of integrated services. The key is not
the collection of data or the presence of an
infrastructure, but what actions can be taken
by using these data and infrastructures in order
to provide services with a high added value,
improving the organization of the city and
consequently the life of citizens.
Nowadays, in your opinion, are Utility able
to play a role that often lacks the strategic direction
of a Smart City process?
The strategic decision must always come from
a process that collects the needs of citizens.
Obviously, Utilities can and are able to propose
integrated solutions to small and medium-sized
businesses, as the actors are limited and the
infrastructures are easy to identify. In large
conurbations, Utilities will never be able to fully fill
decision gaps. We must not confuse possibilities
and opportunities: surely the Utility must make
the Administrations aware of the progress,
of what can be achieved with new technologies
and of the possible benefits. To make a choice
among the many directions in which it is possible
to invest in terms of the future development
of cities, it is a different thing.
What is the Citelum strategy in this regard?
The strategy is to propose itself as a partner
of Administrations, to accompany them in the
digital cultural transition, working on technological
opportunities and, above all, on the concrete benefit
of such opportunities in terms of real effects
on the quality of life of the citizens of a community.
In general, the Citelum strategy is to create
a beautiful, intelligent and sustainable world.
Our activity has a very important environmental
value, both in terms of reduction of energy
consumption – and therefore of lower production
of CO 2 – and of enhancement, safety and connection
of urban spaces. The international experience
and the multiculturalism of our company
is an important value that we make available
on the Italian market.
What are the challenges that we will have to face
in the near future in Italy in order to really talk
about Utilities 4.0?
The major challenges are decarbonisation,
decentralization with customer proximity,
innovation, digitalization and internationalization.
Our shareholder EDF has these priorities.
Now the challenge is the identification of new
economic drivers and financial instruments
in the Smart City area that could trigger change,
as it has been for LED lighting. Further challenges
are the multidisciplinarity of skills and the
integration of very different services, in order
to reduce the administrative complexities of the
Administrations. Certainly, in the public services,
digitization can improve the integration between
infrastructures, the industrial processes,
the efficiency of services, and the relationship
with customers.
Many cities, regardless of their size, are characterized
by the presence of historic centres, buildings
and monuments of historical / architectural
importance, which should be protected, valued
and properly used. How the needs of a smart city relate
with those of safeguarding our cultural heritage?
The Smart City is a great opportunity for any
heritage that requires to be enhanced, because
it facilitates the knowledge, the accessibility and,
above all, an optimized and not “wearing” usage,
through a greater control of historic centres.
The Smart City allows the Administrators to know
how their city is enjoyed by citizens and guests,
with a degree of detail that was not even conceivable
until yesterday, and this opens up endless paths
to enhance the vast national artistic heritage.
LUCE 327
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