Cagliari: during the traveling event “Innovation Roadshow” the headquarters of the Cagliari Digital Lab was opened at the Bastione di Saint Remy.

It ends with a decidedly positive balance sheet the two-day Cagliari event of theInnovation Roadshow, a travelling event involving the Italian cities that have given life to the Houses of Emerging Technologies (CTE), financed by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy (MIMIT).

The event provided the opportunity for illustrate the objectives achieved by the CTE Cagliari and to demonstrate in practice the results obtained in the chosen areas of action, such as tourism, environmental sensing, smart cities, green economy, smart energy and smart mobility.

The event was the occasion for the'inauguration of the first dedicated physical space, the headquarters of the Cagliari Digital Lab (D-Lab), located right in an iconic place of the city, the Bastions of Saint Remy. Here there will be an exhibition of prototypes and demonstrators developed by CTE and an area dedicated to co-working. The second location, at the Ex Distilleria di Pirri, is about to be completed, which will instead host the actual research laboratories, dedicated to augmented reality, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence applications and quantum computing.

Many thematic panels took place and had speakers representing the world of business, research and institutions, all focused on how innovation may be the engine of growth for Italian start-ups and companies.

And the event has paid particular attention to start-ups, with moments of reflection on the state of the art and on the fruitful collaboration between start-ups and more mature companies, bringing out cases, models and practical examples. There was also a Startup Challenge, a challenge between start-ups that saw the victory of a young Sardinian start-up in the final four, Xrit, based in Sassari, which developed an innovative work tool for the construction and plant engineering sector. Among the finalists was another young Sardinian company, Active Label, from Cagliari, with a technological solution (patented) aimed at guaranteeing the optimal preservation of food products along the entire cold chain, reducing waste and improving safety and quality.

Two other Tuscan companies, Mathclick of Pisa and Zerow of Scandicci, presented respectively: the first a system capable of calculate dissolved carbon dioxide in the sea much faster and cheaper and the second an innovative marketplace to provide luxury brands with the opportunity to sell waste and excess materials, transforming them from a cost to an opportunity. Just a few examples of the many presented, demonstrating the broad spectrum of application of emerging technologies.

On the topic of sustainable mobility, the CTE's field of action, there have been First data from the “Pollicino” project presented, developed within D-Lab in collaboration with the Foundation for Sustainable Development and sponsored by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.

The investigation, which began on April 18 of this year and ended on June 23, aimed observing the way in which citizens move around the metropolitan area. The aim of the project was to provide useful data for better planning of city transport infrastructure and services and to promote more sustainable and efficient mobility. Good participation by citizens, on a voluntary basis, who had to download a tracking app (anonymous) on their mobile device: total downloads were 1626, for 1075 active users.

Of these, a useful sample of 600 citizens was selected, 57% of whom were women and 40% were under 45. Well, the car still dominates the use of public transport, while it can be said that the people of Cagliari record good percentages of walking.

A very well attended and practical two-day event, therefore, which also served to highlight the philosophy underlying the CTE experience: theapplication of the concept of “collective intelligence” for the valorization of territories, a collaborative system approach to mobilize the skills of each in a shared strategy.