Digital & Smart Infrastructures

Observatory Goals

The Digital & Smart Infrastructures Observatory was established in 2025 to respond to the growing interest of public and private companies in the opportunities provided by digital technologies in the large infrastructure sector. In particular, the Observatory aims to generate and share knowledge on the evolution of smart infrastructures and, more generally, on the role of digital technologies in sustaining their deployment, with the ultimate goal of contributing to market development in a context characterized by a lack of clarity on the status of applications, the benefits enabled, and the expected evolution of enabling technologies.

Digital & Smart Infrastructures, Observatory Research

As part of its annual edition, the Digital & Smart Infrastructures Observatory conducts various research activities. Specifically, it aims to

• analyze the evolution of the Digital & Smart Infrastructures application scenario in Italy, identifying the most compelling projects and structuring a comparison with other countries;

• estimate the deployment and market value of Digital & Smart Infrastructures in Italy, focusing on areas such as Mobility & Freight transport infrastructure and Energy infrastructure;

• monitor the cutting edge of innovation by analyzing the most interesting startups in Italy and abroad;
• explore the main regulatory developments in Italy and at European level that may influence the process of deployment of these solutions on the market, both in terms of products and related services;
• investigate the role of enabling technologies in infrastructure digitization (e.g., IoT, Digital Twin, Artificial Intelligence), focusing on Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Infrastructure-to-Infrastructure (I2I) technology solutions;
• analyze organizational and governance models for the development of smart and sustainable infrastructure, with a focus on public-private partnerships and financing plans (primarily NRRP and European funds).