“ROAD – Rome Advanced District” is born, a technological research pole in the Gazometer area of ​​Rome Ostiense

“ROAD – Rome Advanced District” starts operating, the network of companies for the development of the first district of technological innovation.

Start trading today”ROAD – Rome Advanced District”, the network of companies formed by Eni, Acea, Autostrade per l’Italia, Bridgestone, Cisco, Gruppo FS and NextChem (MAIRE) for the development, within the Gazometer area of ​​Rome Ostiense, of the first innovation district technology dedicated to new energy supply chains and open to applied industrial research collaborations in synergy with the world of research and universities.

The Roma Ostiense Gazometro area – a real estate complex owned by Eni which covers a total area of ​​about 13 hectares and is currently undergoing redevelopment and redevelopment – is located in an urban area of ​​the capital dating back to the early twentieth century, of absolute importance from an industrial historical point of view, former headquarters of the Joule Business School, of the new Eni research laboratories and of the ZERO accelerator (node ​​of the CDP National Network dedicated to the best clean tech startups).

The new subject of the ROAD network has the objective of:

• develop, promote and accelerate innovation projects and scientific, industrial and technological research;
• create supply chain collaborations between R&D departments of innovative companies, universities, research centres, startups and SMEs on technologies for the energy and digital transition;
• use the Ostiense asset as a “living lab” for experimenting with emerging technologies to support the community;
• attract and train talents for the development of new professions.

The main areas of impact crossed by ROAD will range from technologies for decarbonisation, to the circular economy (water and waste management), energy efficiency and storage, from sustainable mobility to smart cities, passing through the promotion of health and safety. Among the objectives of ROAD there will also be that of developing a proposal for an energy district of the future starting from the analysis, in an initial phase, of the supply chain of sustainable mobility and smart cities.

The first shared work tool, which will make it possible to reconcile existing planning with the vision of the future, will be the development of a metaverse environment. A digital twin through which to experiment, design and share the best solutions to support the urban community.

All the co-founders of ROAD are also involved, each on the basis of their own skills, in the development and acceleration of some industrial chains. Starting from the one that deals with the monitoring and improvement of road paving, which finds an answer in the integration of technologies offered by companies operating in the transport, chemical or information technology sectors.

The research and development of new materials, the methods of collection and reuse of the same will be at the heart of ROAD’s activities, as will the study and experimentation of new digital solutions that will pave the way for increasingly sustainable mobility.

In addition to research collaborations, the ROAD network subject will work to define training programs to adapt and enrich the skills within the partner companies, to encourage internal co-innovation processes, test integrated mobility solutions by exploiting the Ostiense asset – and set up a joint observatory on the data and trends relating to the main transformations of the labor market with respect to the new supply chains.

In the same spaces where energy was supplied to industrial Rome in the early 20th century, technological innovation projects will be born which will help companies achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda.

The industrial vocation of the area, which had already made it the engine of a new modernity in the past, is preparing to become a national reference point for new energies.