I have always been very focused on knowledge and technology transfer from academia to the outside world. I also have co-founded and co-directed two start-up ventures based on research initially conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
Currentcity (2009-2012)
- a spin-off from the M.I.T. Senseable City Laboratory (Real-Time Rome project)
- located in: Amsterdam (NL)
- mission: to observe and understand cities in real-time and retrospectively by aggregating and analyzing all sorts of anonymized digital data generated by people
- field of expertise: data analytics applied to smart cities
- role in Currentcity: co-founder and director (jointly with Prof.Euro Beinat)
- industrial partners: KPN Telecom, Telecom Italia
- clients: Cisco, Tellart, Police Amsterdam, Police Amsterdam, RWS (Dutch Ministry of Transportation and Waters), PBL (Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency), Tellart
- participation to industry trade events and international conferences: Partnership for Urban Innovation (Shanghai 2010 Expo), Picnic, Club van Marseen (RWS), ICT Delta, Rotterdam Open Data
- in the news (English): ORF, Innovcity, The Economist, Financial Times, Technology Review
History Unwired (2006 to Untravel Media)
- a spin-off from M.I.T. Comparative Media Studies, M.I.T. SENSEable City Laboratory, IUAV – Venice School of Design and Arts
- mission: to reinvent the way tourists explore cities and interact with locals, by means of mobile devices
- field of expertise: mobile narratives and digital storytelling
- role in History Unwired: co-founder and project manager (jointly with Michael Epstein and Cristobal Garcia)
- role in Untravel Media: none
- industrial partners (History Unwired): Design Continuum, Motorola, Dell Italia, Ericsson Italia, H3G Italia, Unindustria Venezia
- sponsors (History Unwired): Veneto Regional Authority, Venice Association of Hoteliers, Venice Biennale, Venice Tourist Guides Association
- in the news (History Unwired): Wired, BBC, El Pais, Corriere della Sera, Turisti per Caso
On behalf of the M.I.T. Senseable City Laboratory, I have been inventing and discussing new Research & Development partnerships, helping to build our “Senseable Cities Consortium”:
Partner: World Bank (2012)
Industry: Banking
Topic of partnership: new transport solutions for the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region
Partner: Vale (2011)
Industry: Mining
Topic of partnership: new tracking technologies in the Amazon, for sustainable development
Partner: BBVA Group (2010)
Industry: Banking
Topic of partnership: a digital platform for real-time data sharing and marketing
Partner: ENEL Group (2009)
Industry: Energy
Topic of partnership: location technologies for worker safety in construction plants
Partner: General Electric (2009)
Industry: Conglomerates
Topic of partnership: creative visualization of health and energy data
Partner: Government of Singapore (2009)
Industry: Transportation
Topic of partnership: future urban mobility
Partner: Florence Provincial Authority, Italy (2007, 2006)
Industry: Tourism, Innovation
Topics of partnership: mapping tourism using Flickr.com; organization of international conference on urban Wi-Fi initiatives
In the recent past I have been appointed as external consultant by several organizations:
Fondazione Golinelli (2015-today)
Domain: New education paths for university students, Design Thinking education, University-Industry collaboration, New educational paths for education leaders
Bonfiglioli Consulting (2014)
Domain: Human factors in lean management, a bottom-up qualitative research in manufacturing companies
United Nations, ITU – International Telecommunication Union (2012)
Appointed as expert in focus group “Bridging the gap: from innovation to standards”
European Union, Alpine Space Programme (2011)
Appointed as expert, elaboration of a regional macro-strategy for the Alps
European Commission, DG Information Society (2010)
Appointed as expert, evaluation of proposals
Masdar City, C2Mill (2009)
Domain: Design of an innovative urban way-finding system
Asia (Italy-China Technology Transfer) (2007)
Participation to a delegation of Italian entrepreneurs in China
Reed Elsevier Italia (2006)
Domain: Design of a survey on acceptance of e-learning services
Association of Artisan Businesses, Treviso (2005)
Domain: Design of a new business incubator for creative companies
Previously, I also served as an intern for the following organizations:
ETS European Consultants/European Parliament (2002)
University of Salamanca, Press and Public Relations Office (2001)