One of the key elements for the smart city lies in how the data is first collected and then processed to make the best decisions. To reduce traffic, make roads safer. To support the administrations in this path where technology is privacy protection they have to go hand in hand, they have grown numerous over the years startups which, also in Italy, are making their innovations in the field of sensors available. One of them is Blimp, born inside the factory of the companies of e-Novia and launched in 2019. Part of the Experience the Future of the Festival del Futuro, we interviewed its General Manager and Co-Founder Alex Buzzetti to let us talk about its business with the public and companies. "They are not cameras, but artificial intelligence sensors that are based on image analysis - he specified -. The image is processed directly within the devices. We do not save anything and nothing is passed on. The data is always anonymous and aggregated ".
Blimp: advertising and retail
Active in different cities, such as Milan is Rome, Blimp is an innovative company founded with the aim of measure the movement of people in an urban environment. «I was one of the engineers of e-Novia - explained Buzzetti - and I worked on the prototype until the company was created. At that point I started being an entrepreneur ». So let's find out more closely, with examples concrete, the situations in which data collection can be beneficial for PA is companies thanks to sensors. «We started by installing our technology in the totems where the advertisements are played outdoors. In this way we respond to a concrete need ». With the advertising that is moving more and more towards the digital segment, it is important measuring how much a space can be performing in terms, for example, of passing people.
From advertising, Blimp it also focused on the environment retail. "The same logic is used in stores, to reconstruct the path that people take in a store". Thanks to the sensors, in fact, the anonymous data reveals how many customers have entered, how much time they have looked around and how much they have dedicated to a particular corner of the store. Useful information not only to understand, perhaps, the weaknesses, but also to improve the experience.
Smart city
And then there is the chapter smart city, which cannot but start from data to offer citizens safer and more sustainable public spaces. «We are present in Piazza Duomo in Milan, for example - explained the GM of Blimp -. One of our strengths is having data in real time over a very large geographical area: the sensor covers a distance of 200 meters ". How many pedestrians, cars, cyclists have passed? The startup provides the data and then the PA will make the decisions that belong to it. On the subject of privacy protection Alex Buzzetti finally, he said that the startup has been committed from the outset to grow and mature the debate. «We have started a working table with the main players in outdoor advertising and retail, involving the Italian Privacy Institute. In one year we have created the first white paper that deals with the privacy aspects of audience measurement technologies ".
