Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, February 18 2020 – Innovation and creativity find a home in the city. On an area of ​​over 3.000 square meters between covered surfaces and outdoor areas arranged as terraces and gardens, Smart city lab was born in via Ripamonti 88, the first incubator entirely dedicated to businesses and start-ups operating in the "Smart city" field.

A new space intended to host all those entities that with their innovative projects will contribute to improving the quality of life in the city and its inhabitants. This afternoon, representatives of the municipal administration officiated at the ceremony of the symbolic handing over of the keys to the area to Luigi Gallo, Head of the Innovation and Competitiveness area of ​​Invitalia, the development agency that will deal with create the Smart city lab.

Thanks to this project, the Administration will not only be able to return to the city an area that for years has been subject to degradation and abandonment but propose a new space in which businesses and technologies are aimed at improving liveability, accessibility, environment and energy: in a word, committed to improving the quality of life in the city and its inhabitants.

An important result, made possible also thanks to Invitalia which consolidated a relationship of mutual collaboration with the municipal administration by virtue of the Program Agreement signed by the Ministry of Economic Development, the Municipality and Invitalia itself.
Invitalia, the central purchasing body with contracting authority functions, followed all the functional activities for the creation of the incubator. It prepared the preliminary project of the Smart city lab and managed the tender procedure for the assignment of the definitive design, the executive design and the works.

The Smart city lab, this is the name of the new reality, in addition to offering spaces and services for the most innovative companies in this sector and acting as a point of attraction for investments and talents, will also be the place where companies and start-ups can show the results and solutions to improve the quality of life of citizens in areas such as home automation, mobility, energy saving but also technological proposals for daily life. The project involves the construction of a building of approximately 1.000 square meters (ground floor and first floor) as well as various external areas, partly intended as a square open to the public (approximately 1.000 square metres), appurtenant parking (530 square metres) and greenery.

The official start of the works is scheduled for February and will last 12 months. The project can count on funding of 5 million euros from the Ministry of Economic Development for the construction of the structure (pursuant to law 80/2005), while the Municipality, in addition to the concession of the area, will make available 500 thousand euros for the IT equipment and equipment necessary to start the business incubation activity.

Image gallery