MASA become 1st national urban laboratory for autonomous drive approved by MIT
On the 15th of May Unimore, Comune di Modena and Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport signed a protocol of understanding making MASA a national reference point for the study and experimentation of innovative solutions for autonomous driving and sustainable mobility.
"We are in the heart of the Motor Valley and the Masa project represents a challenge for the future of the automotive sector - comments Smart City Councilor Ludovica Carla Ferrari emphasizing - the extraordinary strength of small and medium-sized businesses in the local supply chain, with the passion of women and men engaged in research and development. This protocol, the first in Italy of this type, is the result of a path that draws strength from tradition and invests on innovation and the future. Now we are counting on the collaboration of the new government to be able to develop it concretely "
The task of the Ministry will be above all to introduce the Modena Automotive Smart Area "as a case study, not exclusively, to incorporate the results of the trials, verifying and analyzing the impacts from a legal, social, economic, environmental and cybersecurity point of view. as well as for the study and evaluation of solutions for the sustainable management of urban mobility ". In addition to providing conferences, seminars and scientific meetings, the ministry will intervene in the matters of interest of the Observatory for Smart Roads and related vehicles and automatic driving.
Unimore professors, researchers and technical staff will be involved in the experimentation. "The initiative will allow to deepen the radical transformation under way in the motor vehicle world, experimenting with the latest technologies related to autonomous driving and communication between the vehicle and the city system - explains prof. Francesco Leali of Unimore's Engineering Department "Enzo Ferrari" - furthermore, thanks to the close collaboration with the Department of Economics, with the Department of Law and with the Department of Medicine of our University, it will be possible to evaluate the impact that this digital revolution applied to the mobility will have on the quality of urban life, on energy saving and on the improvement of environmental quality".