Can you tell us a bit about your organisation and its core mission?
The City of Modena (Comune di Modena), partner of the TRACE project, is the local authority governing Modena, a city of 184,000 inhabitants located in the Emilia-Romagna Region, on the south side of the Po Valley.
The City has a strong tradition and long experience in managing European projects. Its Bureau for European Projects and International relations is active in since 1997, and since then has always been home to a Europe Direct Center.
Which part of yours is in charge of TRACE project?
The Office in charge of TRACE project is the Digital Agenda Unit, which covers many activities and tasks, including Digital Transition management, Supervision of Smart City projects, Planning, coordination, procurement and monitoring of IT solutions and systems, Dissemination of IT culture and promotion of the use of new technologies.
How the City of Modena got involved with the TRACE project?
The City of Modena joined TRACE in strong partnership with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, offering to the project the sites (namely, MASA and Diagonale Verde) and digital infrastructure needed for the testing and demonstrating trials. MASA is a one-of-a-kind open-air smart area fully equipped to host testing and demonstration involving autonomous vehicles in a real-life scenario. Diagonale Verde is an ecological corridor for sustainable mobility located on the axis of the former Bologna Milan historical railway line.
How do you see the TRACE project impacting the City of Modena and the community?
One of the long-term objectives the City is pursuing within TRACE and throughout the other other EU-funded projects currently in progress is improving the logistics services in the city, fostering the use of new and smart business models, and contributing to reduce the impact of logistics on traffic and environment.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of being part of the TRACE project?
Being part of TRACE is fostering the path of the City towards a more efficient and sustainable management of urban logistics, learning from different experiences and best practices on the theme of synchromodal operations and keeping on improving the existing physical structures and digital infrastractures.
