Data, information, trends, analyses. The world of infrastructure and mobility is changing at breakneck speed, driven by technological innovation, by the new challenges posed by the pandemic, and by an increased awareness of environmental and social issues among financial and industrial operators.
Those working in these sectors need to be kept constantly up to date so as to keep up with the new dynamics and phenomena closely affecting people's habits and lives. Travelling to the airport, paying a motorway toll, parking, booking a ski pass are experiences much more closely linked to one another than you may think; they are joined by technology which, to really facilitate users' lives and bring concrete advantages, must be simple and instantly accessible.
Hence, infrastructure managers are now facing new challenges that go far beyond the maintenance and development of networks. On the one hand, passengers require more and more efficiency, customised services, and software “as a service”; on the other, interconnection between different infrastructures (road, airport, railway, electrical, communication) has become central to managing flows optimally and increasing the quality of the travel experience.
Technology and sustainability are radically changing the very concept of mobility, generating industrial and financial impacts of a global nature. Consider, for example, the electrification of motorway networks or airport car parks which, once fully operational, will result in huge, widespread smart grids capable of accumulating and redistributing energy to distribution and transmission systems. Or, again, the spread of technological platforms that, with the click of a finger, allow you to rent a taxi, get petrol, or buy third-party liability and baggage insurance.
New technologies are bringing together - and making complementary - businesses that had always travelled on completely different tracks: infrastructure, energy, tourist services, urban micro-mobility, digital payments. The very near future will usher in a highly integrated mixture of all these components, which will have to be designed and managed synergistically to ensure the best possible travel experience.
Infra has been created to deal with these scenarios, addressing specialised sector operators, professors and researchers, analysts and investors, and anyone at the international level needing to reflect on how mobility is changing in the new millennium. We wish to be an open magazine with widespread editorial coverage, proposing themes of common interest and, if possible, stimulating debate and an exchange of opinions. Our hope is to offer a useful point of view to those who work every day to set the community to which they belong in motion.