At SmartCityLab, public administrations, startups, and businesses test new urban applications with 5G networks, AI, cloud, and edge computing.

Transforming smart city technologies into truly usable services requires more than a good idea. It requires networks, computing power, data, specialized skills, and environments in which to verify whether an application is reliable, secure, and replicable. This is the logic behind the new Innovation hub inaugurated by Fastweb + Vodafone inside SmartCityLab Milan, the space promoted by City of Milan in via Ripamonti 88.

The Hub provides startups, businesses, and public administrations with infrastructure to develop and test solutions for mobility, energy management, urban security, and digital services. The project expands SmartCityLab's role as a hub for collaboration between public and private entities, aiming to bridge the gap that often separates technological experimentation from adoption on an industrial or city scale.

Fastweb + Vodafone are participating in the project as telecommunications partners, bringing expertise in fixed and mobile connectivity, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence to the Hub. The company, formed through the merger of the two operators, aims to use the Milan center as a testing environment for applications requiring high data transmission capacity, fast response times, and secure data management.

Networks and computing power to test ideas in the field

The technological equipment includes networks 5G, services Cloud, solutions of Cybersecurity, platforms of Artificial intelligence, connected devices and technologies Multi Access Edge ComputingThis latest architecture allows data to be processed close to where it is generated, reducing latency compared to systems that send all information to remote data centers.

Distributed processing power can be crucial for applications that need to react quickly, such as traffic flow control, plant monitoring, image analysis, or urban sensor management. Alongside edge computing, there is also room for Mobile Private Network, mobile networks reserved for specific environments and designed to offer greater control, security and reliability than traditional public networks.

For a startup, accessing infrastructure normally available only to large organizations means being able to test a solution's ability to support numerous users, integrate with existing systems, and meet technical and regulatory requirements early on. Even government agencies can test a service on a limited scale before making larger investments for its potential deployment.

The model is therefore not that of a traditional incubator based solely on workspaces and support activities. The Innovation Hub combines networks, software platforms, computing tools, and design expertise, allowing companies to address interoperability, data protection, and scalability issues before entering the market.

"Innovation means transforming an idea into a concrete, scalable business project capable of generating value for the local area. This is why it's important for startups and companies to test, validate, and evolve their solutions in a technological environment like the Innovation Hub we're inaugurating today within SmartCityLab Milano."

said Alexander the Great, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer of Fastweb + Vodafone.

From startups to applications for a truly connected city

During the inauguration, several examples of the technologies that could be developed or tested at the Hub were presented. The companies involved operate in different sectors, but share the need to process data, integrate digital platforms, and transform traditional processes through automated tools.

GridShare offers a participation model for investments in photovoltaic systems, allowing individuals and companies to acquire shares in solar parks and monitor their production and performance through a digital platform. The goal is to make participation in energy projects more accessible without requiring users to have specialized technical skills.

Mama Insurance is an Italian Managing General Agent designed around artificial intelligence. Automation is applied to activities such as risk analysis, insurance process management, and product customization, while maintaining human control over the most sensitive decisions.

NextMindLab, spin-off of Fastweb + Vodafone, has developed Ross, an agent-based assistant based on artificial intelligence. Unlike a conventional chatbot, a software agent can organize information, interact with various tools, and perform complex tasks within user-defined constraints.

Alongside the startups, some solutions developed directly by the operator were illustrated. AI Safety 4 Smart Mobility It uses data from sensors, cameras, and communication networks to support the management of urban traffic flows, with particular attention to vulnerable users such as pedestrians and cyclists. The system can help identify potentially dangerous situations and provide useful information to mobility managers.

Fastweb Power Control It's a smart plug designed to monitor appliance consumption and promote energy optimization. Similar solutions can contribute to distributed energy management in buildings by integrating information from numerous connected devices.

Fastweb AI Suite Finally, it is a platform aimed at companies and public administrations looking to introduce artificial intelligence tools into their processes. The ability to test them in a controlled environment is particularly important for data protection, security, and compliance with European regulations.

The challenge of moving from experimentation to the urban scale

Infrastructure availability doesn't automatically guarantee that a solution can be adopted across a neighborhood or an entire city. Transitioning from prototype to operational service requires shared standards, compatibility with existing systems, clearly defined responsibilities, and a sustainable economic model.

Effective technology in a controlled environment must demonstrate its ability to function with large amounts of data, diverse users, administrative constraints, and heterogeneous infrastructures. Added to this are issues related to information governance: it is necessary to establish who collects it, for what purposes, for what retention periods, and through which transparency guarantees.

La Cybersecurity It therefore becomes an integral part of the design. A vulnerability in a system dedicated to mobility, energy, or a public service can have far-reaching consequences than those associated with a typical commercial application. For this reason, security must be verified from the earliest stages and not added only at the end of development.

SmartCityLab Milano has already started the acceleration program HUMAN + AI, guiding ten startups on a growth path and selecting the same number for the next cycle. In its first year of operation, it also permanently incorporated six experimental technologies and hosted over eighty events dedicated to bringing together government, businesses, investors, and new entrepreneurs.

As a certified incubator and accelerator, we launched the HUMAN + AI program, guiding ten startups on a growth path. Another ten startups were selected for the program, which begins in September. As an experimental laboratory, we have permanently incorporated six innovative technologies, offering a concrete space to test solutions for the city of the future.

said Luca Chiodaroli, Digital Innovation Partner of PwC Italy

The numbers describe an activity already underway, but the decisive evaluation will be the number of projects able to progress beyond the demonstration phase. The impact can be measured by observing how many solutions are adopted by businesses or governments and what benefits they will produce in terms of safety, energy efficiency, mobility, or accessibility of services.

Milan tries to transform the laboratory into an infrastructure

The project is part of the strategy of the Municipality of Milan dedicated to the smart city and to Extended Digital TwinVirtual representations of the territory can be used to simulate flows, consumption, and infrastructure interventions, but their value depends on the quality of the data and the ability to connect the simulations to administrative decisions.

In this context, the center on Via Ripamonti can function as a space for selection as well as experimentation: a place to distinguish truly mature technologies from those requiring further testing or that don't offer sufficient advantages over existing solutions.

The measure of the Innovation Hub's success will therefore not be the number of demonstrations organized, but its ability to generate replicable services, investments, and ongoing collaborations. The risk common to many technology hubs is accumulating interesting prototypes without developing the necessary industrial and administrative processes to bring them out of the lab.

For Fastweb and Vodafone, the Hub represents an opportunity to demonstrate how connectivity, cloud computing, edge computing, and artificial intelligence can become enabling tools for new economic activities and new public services. For Milan, it represents another step in building an ecosystem capable not only of experimenting with innovation, but also of evaluating and integrating it into the city's management.

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