Interview with Vittorio Biondi, General Manager of MUSA, on the event “Research and Development for the City of the Future”

On March 20th and 21st, Assolombarda in Milan will host “Research and Development for the City of the Future“, an event organized by the MUSA ecosystem that will foster dialogue between the world of research and that of businesses, institutions, and the third sector. The initiative will provide an important opportunity to present innovative projects already realized or under development within the framework of the project funded by the PNRR, with the aim of imagining and building the cities of tomorrow. To delve into the role of MUSA and its partners in this process, we interviewed Vittorio Biondi, General Manager.

Dr. Biondi, what impact are MUSA projects having on the city of Milan?

The event on March 20th and 21st represents an important opportunity for MUSA researchers to illustrate a wide range of projects, both completed and in progress, to businesses, our partners, institutions, and third-sector entities. These projects, many of which are in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan, are already producing a positive impact on the territory. The purpose of this event is to provide a clear perspective, which will be further developed by the keynote speakers (Nick Tyler from UCL London, Matteo Risi from the Smart City Observatory of the Polytechnic, Carlo Ratti, professor of Urban Technologies at MIT in Boston), on the development of future cities and the scenario in which our initiatives will be placed.

What is the role of Assolombarda and A2A in the “Research and Development for the City of the Future” event?

Assolombarda has believed in the MUSA project from the beginning. For this reason, it has contributed to the development of our ecosystem and follows it closely. The event on March 20th and 21st will be an opportunity to give visibility to this joint commitment. Italy’s largest Confindustria association is naturally interested in promoting and developing sustainable innovation from a scientific, economic, environmental, and social point of view within MUSA, strengthening this partnership with its member companies.

A2A is also a fundamental partner of MUSA: it is one of the founding members of the Scarl and, in particular, a supporter of Spoke 3, playing a key role in supporting our initiatives related to sustainability and urban innovation. Partnerships of this kind with actors in our industrial system play a fundamental role in the development of the ecosystem.

In addition to official relations, what other opportunities does the event offer?

“Research and Development for the City of the Future” aims to foster the development of new relationships through various networking moments: on the afternoon of the first day, four joint workshops will be held in parallel between dozens of researchers and businesses, and the same will happen on the morning of the second day. Our goal is to create an opportunity for meeting and exchanging knowledge, not only during the event but also in the long term. We want this initiative to represent a point of reference for dialogue between research, businesses, and institutions, contributing concretely to the future development of the MUSA ecosystem.