The City of Knowledge

Rome is a city of knowledge by nature: universities, research centres, businesses, start-ups, institutions and educational establishments can come together to form an ecosystem capable of generating development, inclusion and new opportunities. This is the central theme of the episode of Roma Smart City, the programme on Radio Roma News presented by Luca Bedini and dedicated to urban innovation, featuring Riccardo Corbucci, chair of the Innovation Commission of Roma Capitale, Antonella Melito, vice-chair of the Commission, Sabrina Sarto of the Rome Technopole Foundation and Vincenzo Sivero, project manager at the Mondo Digitale Foundation.

During the episode, broadcast on 22 May, Rome’s innovation system is described as a growing network that connects research, business, education and local communities. It is within this context that the model of the Innovation Hubs fits, created to establish local hubs in neighbourhoods and make innovation accessible not just to a few, but to everyone. As Vincenzo Sivero pointed out, the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, with Roma Capitale among its founding members, works precisely to create spaces where citizens, schools and universities can collaborate and experiment together.

The episode also featured a first-hand account of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale’s activities. In the report filmed at the Innovation Gym, Cecilia Staiano reflected on the Foundation’s 25-year history and the work carried out across the country, starting from its operational bases in Rome, Milan and Turin, with the aim of helping people become competent and informed digital citizens. Digital technology, she explained, needs to be properly understood and examined, even today with artificial intelligence: it should not be feared, but can become a ‘travel companion’ if used with awareness.

One of the most practical segments of the episode comes from the fab lab at the Palestra dell’Innovazione, where Daniele Vigo shows some objects created in the workshop, including the logo of Radio Roma, which has just been “laser-cut”. The Fab Lab works with students of various ages, from primary school right through to university, guiding them through the transition from digital design to physical creation. They start with modelling and graphics software, prepare the files and programme machinery such as laser cutters, CNC milling machines, 3D printers and cutting plotters.

Daniele’s account brings to life the heart of the Palestra dell’Innovazione: a place where the digital world does not remain on the screen, but becomes matter, a prototype, an object, a solution. Alongside the creative dimension, there is also an engineering component: the lab supports university students and schools in carrying out complex projects, including those using specific materials and filaments for 3D printing. It is here that the idea of the ‘digital craftsman’ takes shape: designing on the computer, building with one’s hands, learning by doing.

Digital training, however, is not just for the young. The Fondazione Mondo Digitale promotes intergenerational programmes and support activities for people of different ages: the elderly, adults undergoing retraining, and young people who have not had opportunities to access technology. Digital literacy is not a question of age, but of access, interest, trust and the opportunity to learn together.

In Antonella Melito’s view, Innovation Hubs and Digital Facilitation Centres are part of a growth process that must be collective: tools to prevent innovation from remaining the preserve of an elite and to help the city tackle challenges such as youth unemployment, early school leaving and the rise in NEETs. A city is truly smart when digital transformation becomes social innovation, serving people and enhancing the quality of daily life.

The episode concludes with a message that runs through the entire narrative: technology creates value when it connects with people, when it empowers skills, when it helps young people take the lead. Not just university students or future researchers, but young people capable of learning, designing and becoming, even today, ‘builders of tomorrow’.