Polis – the Experience of the Tuscan Innovation Cluster in the Field of Sustainable Mobility

Tuscany Region, in order to promote innovation and technology transfer according to the communication n° 323/2006 of the EU commission, constituted twelve clusters since July of 2011 within which POLIS – Pole of innovation on the technologies for the sustainable city – is the one focused on:
• Mobility, flow management and organization of transport processes.
• Cultural heritage, conservation, management and fruition.
• Sustainable construction, new building materials, energy consumption reduction systems.Foundation for Research and Innovation (proponent and key-manager partner of POLIS) is highly active in the field of urban logistics, as a key sector where innovative solutions and policies could significantly ease traffic impacts and environmental implications.Research and technological innovation can play a significant role in the improvement of competitiveness of the sector, for example by means of interventions on:
• Traffic and logistic flows reorganization and optimizing daily supplies to urban areas.
• Spreading of networks of supply for low-emission vehicles and fleets.
• Systems and services for mobile information, organization and integration of public transport services, land use planning and traffic management (infomobility).POLIS, born as grouping of 200 Tuscan SMEs, research centers, start-ups and associations, is now made of more than 600 partners (52% of them belonging to mobility sector) and it represents an Italian good practice, presently mentoring the start-up of other clusters in Spain, Portugal and Romania within the “Dorothy” (Development Of RegiOnal clusTers for researcH and implementation of environmental friendlY urban logistics) project, funded under the 7th framework Programme – Regions of Knowledge.