Turin Has The First Smart Technology Piazza In Italy

Turin’s Piazza San Carlo has become Italy’s first smart technology city square. Newspaper ‘Corriere della Sera’ reports that the local council has installed adjustable street lighting, video surveillance and a super-fast internet connection at the square. Street lighting illumination levels can be adjusted, switched on and turned off remotely. The installation of the system is expected to save the public administration – and hence the city’s taxpayers – money, by improving energy efficiency as much as 50% and helping manage environmental pollution. The technology platform used to remotely manage street lighting and such like is called the Minos System of Outdoor Lighting Management and Simple Life for Building Management. It was invented by an Italian company, Umpi, based in Cattolica, Rimini, in collaboration with the group that manages the city’s streetlights. Services such as free wi-fi are provided using existing infrastructure, meaning that there has been no need to rewire or dig up the area. It is hoped that in the future the technology will be employed to monitor traffic flow. Sensors will detect how many cars and motorbikes are in the city, and help car-park management by providing information in real time on where parking spaces are available. The sensors will also be able to monitor air quality and the state of aqueducts. The technology is also being developed to help forewarn of natural disasters such as earthquakes. Umpi president Luca Cecchini told ‘Corriere della Sera’: “We are now working on monitoring the stability of buildings. A system capable of recording mudslides and vibrations in real time. It could be used to intervene in good time and limit the damage of natural disasters.”