Enhancing Monitoring Systems for More Effective Public Policies in the Municipality of Bologna

Challenge

The Municipality of Bologna is implementing a comprehensive monitoring system for the city territory by installing and managing a network of IoT sensors. Specifically, these sensors measure air quality, noise pollution levels, monitor vehicles and people in outdoor environments, and track electricity and water consumption indoors.

Currently, the collected data constitutes a valuable source of information for decision-making, supporting the definition of environmental and mobility policies aimed at the responsible management of densely populated municipal areas undergoing infrastructure upgrades.

The Municipality partnered with EROI, the Emilia-Romagna Region's Open Innovation platform, to learn about the experiences of other public administrations and acquire specific technical know-how related to interpreting and managing datasets from sensors deployed within the city.

Solution

The Municipality of Bologna turned to the EROI platform to connect with various stakeholders. The engagement process with the EROI community of innovators involved the following steps:

• Publication of a Challenge by the beneficiary on the EROI platform
• Promotion of the Challenge by the EROI, ER2Digit, and ART-ER network
• Collection of solutions proposed by the EROI community
• Organization of 1-on-1 meetings between the beneficiary and solution proponents

The initiative carried out through the EROI platform allowed the Municipality of Bologna to meet with specialized entities that provided diverse solutions in the field of digital innovation and shared international best practices in the smart city domain.

Some organizations proposed technical solutions, involving the enhancement of monitoring infrastructure (aimed at improving the efficiency and optimization of current systems with new data management platforms) and innovations at the sensor level.

Other companies proposed methodological and design-thinking approaches related to the co-design of internal processes, through customized solutions to increase internal awareness of the potential offered by data.

Results

Thanks to the EROI open innovation process, the Municipality of Bologna was able to examine innovative solutions for enhancing technological infrastructure and improving the management of monitoring and data acquisition systems.

The Municipality met with various stakeholders who contributed to defining an interdisciplinary and integrated approach, essential for addressing such complex innovation challenges. Finally, the municipality evaluated the possible integration of advanced methodological approaches, such as design thinking and co-design, to promote the transformation and optimization of internal processes related to data management.

Information

Find out your nearest EDIH and learn more about ER2Digit service catalogue for Public Sector Organisations and SMEs located in Emilia-Romagna.

Foto: Municipality of Bologna