'One in five municipalities has started smart city projects'

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 25 - Over one in five municipalities in Italy over the past year has promoted projects on smart cities showing "the will to actively participate in the digital revolution of cities", according to the congress "Smart City.
    Roadmap for the government", organized in Rome on Tuesday by Q8 Italia, an affiliate of Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI).
    The event focused on strategies to develop advanced technologies and promote solid collaborations between public and private actors to build sustainable and smart cities, starting from projects such as Rome's Dataplatform, Mantua's smart parking with lot technologies, the Nuvola Convention Centre in the Italian capital built with technologically advanced solutions and futuristic cities in the desert like The Line in Neom, Saudi Arabia, designed by the Fuksas architectural studio.
    "We have made much more progress than generally believed and we are all able to do incredible things", said Massimiliano Fuksas.
    "We are in a phase of evolution in which energy transition, connected to the digital one, is giving new shape to cities, which are thus becoming laboratories for new practices of sustainability", said Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin in a statement.
    "In designing the trajectory for transition to a new mobility we must also take advantage of companies like Q8", added the minister.
    "The new service stations - which will increasingly offer services for mobility - will be able to give their contribution".
    "The realization of Smart Cities, which integrates digital networks and services benefiting companies and citizens, represents a priority for the future of our communities", said the executive vice president of marketing at Kuwait Petroleum International, Fadel Al-Faraj.
    "Q8 Italia is firmly committed to supporting the development of smart and sustainable cities, promoting innovative policies and solutions that can improve the quality of citizens' lives", he added.
    Foreign Undersecretary Giorgio Silli noted that "Italy plays a primary role in this global contest to transform cities into smart cities, which is part of the great challenge for decarbonization and the fight against climate change and the G7 under Italy's presidency has forcefully stressed the strength cities have in improving the environment".
    Cities can lead sustainable development, added Silli.
    Rome's councillor for agriculture, the environment and waste management, Sabrina Alfonsi, said that the capital is committed to "digital and ecological transition through a plan including all sectors of intervention of the city's government: from the environment to waste, mobility, the social sector, culture, tourism, security and energy resources".
    Alfonsi in particular presented Consulta Roma Smart City Lab, "an operational and governance tool for digital transition".
    "We are talking about smart cities but there are already completely imaginary cities, including in the Metaverse, and they can be bought, it is possible to organize parties in them - we should hurry up to make something new on this subject rather than talk about them", observed Doriana Fuksas.
    The congress is a new step in Q8 Italia's path towards the promotion of smart cities, in continuity with the high-level training course 'Smart city. Innovation, social impact, environmental sustainability, juridical profiles', recently completed at the European School of Economics.
    photo: Fadel Al-Faraj, Executive Vice President Marketing Kuwait Petroleum International (ANSA).