Telecom Italia continued to build expertise in the field of smart cities and urban intelligence, forging an agreement with the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) to jointly develop digital tools for local authorities.

The operator stated the agreement with CNR initially spans four years, with options to extend.

It explained a key target of the collaboration is identifying and developing research programmes, training and technology transfers which can deliver advances in city and urban intelligence systems.

CNR will employ Telecom Italia’s Urban Genius data analysis tools, which it separately explained covers information on mobility and safety.

Telecom Italia stated the pair will collaborate on a digital twins project for cities, employing sensors and predictive analytics to replicate urban spaces and systems and so improve planning and management.

Elio Schiavo, chief enterprise and innovative solutions officer at Telecom Italia, highlighted the operator’s focus on providing “technology and expertise to local administrations”, noting the agreement with CNR “pools our strengths in research to collect and process large quantities of data”.

CNR president Maria Chiara Carrozza added the data delivered by the collaboration will enable it to “create simulators that can improve efficiency and resilience in the management of urban environments” along with tying in with the organisations work to “equip urban governance with the digital tools required” to combat environmental and other challenges.