How the government wants to support emerging technologies related to 5G
Among the guests protagonists of the five days of events at the Materana Digital Week there will also be the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development Anna Ascani, who will speak at the opening of the inaugural day of the event, Wednesday 22 June, on a morning that will be centered above all on the issues of mobility and infrastructures . For sportsgaming.win we have previewed these issues together with the undersecretary, addressing topics that pass through Matera but which concern the whole country system more generally. Here's what she told us.
Anna Ascani, how do the Houses of Emerging Technologies - in Matera and beyond - fit into the Italian innovation ecosystem?
"The six houses of emerging technologies (Matera, L'Aquila, Turin, Prato, Rome and Bari), selected by the Ministry of Economic Development from among the municipalities subject to 5G experimentation and financed with an allocation of 40 million euros in implementation of the 5G emerging technologies support program, are part of an innovation ecosystem that also includes the Competence Centers and the European Digital Innovation Hubs. It is a set of realities that we intend to further strengthen thanks to the resources made available by the NRP, whose centrality is not only the development of applied research, but the meeting between supply and demand for innovation by our companies, and the implementation of transformation projects capable of producing concrete effects on the territory ".
Why is it strategic to focus on emerging technologies, from 5G to many other lines of innovation?
"The strength of emerging technologies such as 5G lies in being a multisectoral accelerator for the development of territories, businesses and communities. An obligatory technological evolutionary step. The strategic element of 5G, however, does not lie in connectivity alone, but in being the gateway to a set of technologies and services that base their effectiveness precisely on the great transmission capacity of the new generation networks. I am referring to the IoT, the cloud, edge computing, blockchain and artificial intelligence, and I could go on.
“These technologies are capable of benefiting our society by helping to improve efficiency, reduce costs and enable faster decision making in complex environments, improving productivity and transforming a number of sectors, from manufacturing industry 4.0 to public services. Proof of the great attention that - as a ministry - we reserve for applications of 5G, pilot testing projects based on this technology are being evaluated in the audiovisual sector. Furthermore, a fund of 45 million euros will soon be launched to encourage the development of technologies and applications of artificial intelligence, blockchain and the internet of things. The fund will finance research, development and innovation projects to be carried out in Italy in strategic areas for the development of emerging technologies and competitive initiatives to achieve specific technological and application objectives ".
In the field of 5G Italy is certainly a pioneer, it believes that what has been done so far is sufficient and above all that 5G alone is sufficient to bridge the technological gap compared to other countries, which is felt above all in some areas?
"It's true, our country was a pioneer in the field of 5G, thanks to the auction for the assignment of frequencies that the Ministry of Economic Development carried out in 2018. A record certified by Desi 2021 itself, with a score of 60% attributed to Italy for the spectrum assignment level, compared to 51% of the European Union average. However, Desi 2021 still records a delay in the implementation process of 5G networks in our territory, equal to 8% of populated areas compared to 14% of the community average. A delay that we are called to fill thanks to digital infrastructure measures such as the Italy 5G Plan.
"This is a Pnrr intervention divided into two tenders, the first awarded to Tim last June 13 for an amount of approximately 725 million euros for the fiber binding of 5G mobile sites, and a second of over 500 million euros for the construction of new 5G mobile sites in areas fallime market, the terms of which for the submission of offers ended on 10 June. With this in mind, the completion of the White Areas Plan, the 1 Giga Italy Plan, interventions such as connected Hospitals and Schools, as well as the connection of the smaller islands, are all measures that, together with the development of 5G, will allow us to bridge the technological gap again. existing ".
How can we pursue a digital renewal that allows us to systematize the best energies and create tangible effects on citizens and on the quality of their lives?
“The processes of renewal are by their very nature articulated paths, since they require the ability to adapt and plan interventions, in order to produce the expected effects. We are called to act with a broad vision, promoting mutually complementary processes: completing digital infrastructure interventions, enhancing basic digital skills, strengthening Stem training and applied research paths, supporting the digital and ecological transition of businesses, promoting the adoption of advanced systems. All with a coordinated and systemic approach. This is what we as a government are called to implement and what we are achieving. ”
In what time frame do you think we will see these benefits?
"It is not easy to make estimates, as we are not talking about clearly measurable physical processes, however - thanks also to the data provided by the sector reports, such as the Desi Index - we can already take note of a process of change that is developing and that is progressively helping our country to gain positions in comparison with other European countries. A transversal improvement process, which involves citizens, businesses and the public, which therefore goes in the right direction and which we must support and accelerate ”.
At the level of long-term technological strategy globally, we are already starting to talk about 6G: it considers it important to move immediately and, above all, it makes sense that Italy moves on its own or will necessarily have to be part of a common European strategy ?
“We know that the definition of new technological standards is a process of constant evolution that knows no pauses. I believe that our country in this context must maintain the balanced approach that historically distinguishes it, namely that of protecting its own prerogatives, also in consideration of the European context to which it belongs. In this context, 6G represents a very important evolutionary step. In fact, if 5G will allow us to significantly enhance the transmission capacity of our network infrastructures, 6G will not only involve a further upgrade from the performance point of view, but will allow us to optimize the management of this enormous data flow thanks to the implementation. of artificial intelligence. Like any technological paradigm leap, we could accelerate the benefits and limit the risks only through a common and shared approach. ”
How can the digital transition be inclusive, both geographically and socially?
"The digital transition can only be inclusive. Of course, going into the specifics of the theme, I believe it is evident that our country, over the years, has suffered from a disharmonic development between center and periphery, North-South gap. These differences, developed on the basis of geographical differences, have certainly entailed a strong penalization for all those territories marginalized by the traditional economic development directives, with the consequent penalization of communities, the impoverishment of economic fabrics and the triggering of important internal migration phenomena.
"Today we know that the digital transition can be a decisive lever for redistributing growth within our country. I am referring, for example, to the possibility of increasing the degree of economic use and of those small towns, which represent the most authentic essence of Italianness. Moreover, thanks to the new generation digital networks neration, we offer companies the opportunity to be truly competitive on a global scale, acquiring not only visibility on foreign markets, but also operational capacity thanks to advanced services such as cloud, artificial intelligence and IoT ".
How does Matera Digital Week fit into these necessary paths?
"The Digital Week promoted by the House of Emerging Technologies of Matera represents an important stage of these paths because, never as today, when we talk about the digitization of processes and consumption we have to adopt an approach that is open to comparison and sharing . Putting experiences, positive models and difficulties together are all aspects of an attitude of confrontation between the actors of change that, as a public sector, we must promote with a view to constantly improving the policies of the future. Furthermore, we must not forget that a house is alive, the more it is able to be welcoming and therefore events such as the one in Matera, in which the doors are opened wide to citizens, are of primary importance to create true sharing between territories and innovation projects. ".
