Wishing to broaden its image of a city of the arts, Florence has joined with the SENSEable City Consortium in order to explore the opportunity offered by wireless connectivity for a better understanding of resource allocation in the region as well as to devise new services for its citizens and visitors. In the first phase of collaboration, we focussed on gathering together in Florence those actors that are shaping the Wi-Fi revolution, from the City of Philadelphia to Google and Cisco.
Following an international conference on 'La Citta Wireless', we released the Charter of Florence, a set of recommendations to build the digital city of the future, in the most inclusive, sustainable and forward-looking way possible. Also, the Charter was meant as a steering document to evaluate research projects to be undertaken under the umbrella of the SENSEable City Consortium. Currently, we are concentrating on tourism as the main focus, for prototyping new technology-based methods and algorithms to better describe mobility behavior of visitors as well as their advanced information needs.
Florence is aware of its potential to become a model and inspiration for the sustainable future of historical urban Europe. It is aware of the need for research to bridge current technological developments and the city's extraordinary cultural and social history. It is aware of its unique position in leading a new Renaissance integrating the potential of technology and the beauty of its region to create an exceptional working environment for its citizens.
