A new ecosystem for urban innovation
Data, infrastructure and smart spaces in the Rome Advanced District
Rome is developing one of its most ambitious projects in the field of urban innovation. In the Ostiense district, on the site of the former Gazometro – for decades the capital’s energy hub – ROAD, the Rome Advanced District, is taking shape: an open-air laboratory where businesses, institutions, universities and research centres collaborate to develop technological solutions linked to the energy transition and the city of the future.
In this context, eFM is officially joining ROAD as a Partner and Co-Founder, contributing to the creation of an ecosystem that aims to bring together research, experimentation and industrial application.
An urban laboratory for innovation
ROAD was established with a clear objective: to create an environment in which emerging technologies and collaborative models can be tested in real-world conditions.
The former Gazometro site, covering around thirteen hectares in the heart of Rome, is gradually becoming a living lab dedicated to sustainable innovation. Here, industrial firms, start-ups, research centres and universities come together to develop projects focusing on sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, new materials, the digitalisation of infrastructure and advanced smart city models.
The initiative’s partners include some of the country’s leading industrial and technology companies, alongside Eni: Acea, Autostrade per l’Italia, Bridgestone EMEA, Cisco, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group and NextChem. The aim is to build an ecosystem capable of attracting talent and investment, as well as generating scalable solutions for the cities of the future.
eFM’s contribution: digital real estate and spatial governance
Within ROAD, eFM will bring specific expertise gained in recent years in the fields of digital real estate and digital service governance.
The company’s contribution will focus in particular on the development of advanced models for the management and enhancement of urban spaces, using an approach that integrates data, services and digital infrastructure. The aim is to transform places and infrastructure into smart platforms capable of generating value over time: not just buildings or neighbourhoods, but connected environments where services, people and technologies interact dynamically.
This framework also encompasses the concept of experience as a service, an approach that views spaces as evolving ecosystems, designed to adapt to the needs of the communities that inhabit them and the technologies that permeate them.
An active role in the governance of the ecosystem
eFM’s entry into ROAD also means direct involvement in the governance of the initiative. Daniele Di Fausto, CEO of eFM, joins the ROAD Board, helping to define the project’s strategic direction. Emiliano Boschetto, meanwhile, joins the Innovation Committee, with the task of supporting the development of research and experimentation activities. Participation in the ecosystem’s decision-making processes strengthens eFM’s role as an industrial partner in the development of new models of urban innovation.
A district for the city of the future
The ROAD project forms part of a wider transformation of the Ostiense area, which in recent years has been emerging as one of Rome’s main hubs for technological research and sustainability.
Alongside Eni’s new research laboratories and the Zero start-up accelerator, the district aims to develop solutions related to decarbonisation, energy efficiency and sustainable mobility. Among the objectives is also the creation of new models for smart energy neighbourhoods and urban systems capable of integrating data, digital infrastructure and advanced services.
Digital technology will play a central role: through data analysis and the use of artificial intelligence algorithms, it will be possible to monitor the environmental impact of projects, guide investment and improve the strategic decisions of the organisations involved.
An ecosystem with a long-term perspective
ROAD is a project designed to foster new forms of collaboration between the public and private sectors, capable of driving innovation on an urban scale.
For eFM, entering this ecosystem means contributing to the creation of urban models in which infrastructure, data and services are designed together. This move is consistent with the vision the company has been pursuing for years: to develop smart places capable of evolving alongside the people and technologies that inhabit them.