Genoa, a Pioneer City in the Use of Artificial Intelligence for Urban Monitoring

The city of Genova has equipped itself with IoT sensors, cameras, and a video management system that integrates artificial intelligence and analytics solutions provided by Milestone Systems, a company specialized in data-driven technology, to manage the urban environment more efficiently.

Genova’s goal in this regard is to improve urban mobility by offering an integrated system of buses, trains, parking, and bike sharing, as stated by Dr. Andrea Sinisi, Head of Telecommunications Networks, Access Control Systems, and Video Surveillance for the Municipality of Genova, and Alessandra Raiti, IT officer at the Technology Office of the Municipality of Genova.

However, these technologies enable numerous applications, allowing the collection of big data related to tourism, culture, urban safety, facility management, urban planning, as well as valuable information for the prevention of natural disasters, as explained by Alessandro Massa, IT officer at the Technology Office of the Municipality of Genova.

Currently, Genova has 2,700 surveillance cameras installed in public areas, 40 license plate reading portals, cameras integrated with intrusion alarm systems, and other connected systems and software platforms. These generate a large volume of visual data, which the city's video management system collects, analyzes, and enhances by transforming images into structured data.

This wealth of information has been made available by the Municipality of Genova to AI developers on the Hafnia platform by Milestone Systems and Nvidia, making Genova the first municipality in Europe to collaborate on this important project. The participation was announced during the GTC AI Conference in Paris.

All of this confirms Genova as a pioneer in digital innovation and a strong candidate to become Italy’s number one smart city by 2030.

Genova is a city with infrastructural and hydrogeological challenges, but to establish itself as a modern smart city, it must be able to address these issues. To this end, technology—and in particular, artificial intelligence—is a fundamental tool, as emphasized by Dr. Andrea Sinisi.

Naturally, this technological shift must be accompanied by a cultural change and the acquisition of new skills.

Written by Irene Bellotto