Smart Mobility, Lombardy to invest €25m in innovative services and technologies

It’s time for Smart Mobility in Lombardy. New technologies, connectivity (5G, IoT) and mobility infrastructures (parking, charging networks, signage, vehicles), as well as innovative solutions and services are ready to revolutionise the transport of people and goods.

To support this transition, the Lombardy Region has launched an Expression of Interest procedure (making €25 million available), inviting universities and public research organisations, municipalities, provinces and transport and mobility agencies to submit investment proposals to the Lombardy region for Smart Mobility Data Driven initiatives.

"We are looking for practical projects with high innovative value," explained the regional councillor for Education, University, Research, Innovation and Simplification, "that open up new frontiers to offer citizens the experience of easily accessible, safe and sustainable mobility.

Submissions can be made on the regional platform Online Calls from 10 a.m. on 19 September until 4 p.m. on 19 October. 

Only those submissions selected through the Expression of interest procedure will be eligible for the subsequent Call for Proposals.

The aims of the regional strategy for a European hub

Innovative and outstanding solutions for smart mobility should make it possible, for example, to simplify the way people use transport, steer users towards more sustainable mobility, increase travel safety, and speed up the provision of new services through data sharing and the launch of open innovation schemes.

The initiative is an important new part of the regional strategy to make Lombardy a European hub for mobility research and innovation. A path that Lombardy has set out on working in close partnership with the Region’s universities, companies in the automotive sector and all stakeholders in this profoundly changing environment, including citizens. The recent selection of our Region as the headquarters of the NRRP-funded National Centre for Sustainable Mobility is the natural outcome of this joint effort.

The project originates within the framework of the NRRP “National Centre for Research on Sustainable Mobility” and “MaaS for Italy” national projects, and is in line with the strategies in the areas of Research & Innovation and Digital Transformation of the Lombardy Region itself.

The Smart Mobility Data Driven initiative: the two stages

Stage 1 is the Expression of Interest procedure, which opens on 19 September and is aimed at:

- Municipalities = 15,000 inhabitants, Municipal Unions = 15,000 inhabitants, Consortia of Municipalities = 15,000 inhabitants, Mountain Communities, Provinces, Metropolitan Cities;

– Public transport agencies;

– Public consortia and public companies - including in-house - for transport and mobility;

– Public universities and higher education institutions, public research bodies and institutions.

Which projects to submit

Projects may include, but are not limited to, the installation of:

– digital solutions for the mapping and control of individual and/or collective mobility flows, including congestion and parking, to plan transport networks and services more effectively, guide user behaviour towards more sustainable methods of transport and define evidence-based mobility policies;

– AVL/AVM systems for better management of traffic related to school, work, tourism, business and emergency services;

– Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for traffic-light control;

– intelligent (IoT) sensors and high-performance connection infrastructures for real-time V2X communications to increase travel safety or for the application of MaaS - Mobility as a Service - solutions;

– infomobility systems to improve the user-friendliness of travel, particularly intermodal and multimodal travel;

– mobile payment devices on means of transport.

Stage 2 will see the publication of the Call for Proposals for an amount of €25 million. It will be open exclusively to those parties accepted in Stage 1 and will cover 100% of the investment costs of an indicative maximum of 5 projects in 5 intervention areas.

Projects are to begin in 2023 and be implemented by 30/06/2024.