E-commerce to the disabled. This is how Forano is smart

A city is able to be really smart when it meets the needs of all the citizens and it improves the quality of those who live there. The commune of Forano, in the province of Rieti, has promoted numerous actions in this respect, which go across the aspects of everyday life (from waste management to improvement of public buildings efficiency). We discuss this with Emilio Fiori Head of Economic and Social Development Area of the Union of Communes of Bassa Sabina and the Commune of Forano.

Does the commune adopt an efficient system of waste collection?

Th Union of Communes of Bassa Sabina was created in 1998 and it currently encompasses six communes with 19600 inhabitants and over 6500 households (Poggio Mirteto, Montopoli di Sabina, Forano, Stimigliano, Cantalupo in Sabina, Tarano). After the first phase of partial separate waste collection which began 6 years ago, the services of solid urban waste collection and disposal has been granted in an associated form since 2001. Since June 2014 it is organized and performed daily based on waste separation and the “door-to-door” system. The switch off phase eliminated big containers in the area and assured the collection of waste at the inhabitants’ home and companies’ premises which care about the complete waste separation by means of household containers of the maximum condo volume. The contract sets forth that the profits and the sales of recyclable waste should be obtained by the company with the intention to encourage the optimum execution of the contract granted and to favor the adoption of the social role by the company. It took just few months to reach about a figure 70% which accounts for the waste collected separately. Already in 2014 it generated a significant saving of the disposal cost incurred by each commune. Separate collection is also supported by a waste separation and recycling area created in Stimigliano by the Province of Rieti. It is open six days a week and it is equipped with and staffed by special operators where bulky waste may be disposed of at any time.

Digital agenda: has the PA an interest in digitalization of data and rendering them useful for inhabitants and companies?

The cooperation with CNT as the technological partner allowed implementation for the associated communes of a multi-media platform “Communes in the Clouds.” The Union of Communes of Bassa Sabina has started the activities of development, implementation and personalization of IT applications, and in particular of the applications of the Single Desk (SUAP-SUE-STA ) admitted for re-use by the Mountain Community of Catria and Nerone (PS). CNR allows local PA to re-use the applications of the Single Desk as well as host at its own server farm the applications of the Single Desk and the platform. The Associated Service Center is in an advanced phase. It is based on the integration of data banks for the management of local taxes and the improvement of the offer of services for the inhabitants: from the control of payment instruments to the management of the entirety of services of the collection cycle (tailored for specific communes) to the focuses on the market positioning.

Do you think that the activities promoted in your commune are easily transferable also to the cities? 

Yes, good practices are basically easily transferable, but the major difficulty, besides the required technical and scarcely available resources in small local administrations, is constituted by the ability to face the changes.

A city, in order to define itself as “smart” must be able to respond to the needs of all its inhabitants: what kind of activities have you promoted in this respect?

The Union of Communes of Bassa Sabina in the scope of management of a daily district center for the disabled has created a website for the e-commerce of the typical products of the area with the intention to entrust this entity with the organization of the logistic and services platform connected with the activity of online sales. The web structure is in line, but the services have to be launched. The IPTV (TV that uses the Internet protocol) has been in place for two years and it offers multi-media instruments available through the web and video located in the buildings and public areas. Their aim is to disseminate public information at the local and general level.

Are the inhabitants ready to become “smart”?

Yes, above all the younger ones, of the age group of 18-19 where the use of Internet reaches almost 99%. Italy has to bridge a very significant gap and overcome the delay with respect to the average EU figures concerning the population that uses Internet. The discrepancy in respect of the European average in the age group of 16-24 years is 10%; the gap gets considerably wider in the age group of 25-54 and it equals 18 points for the age group of 55-74; what is more, in the households of those at the age of over 65 the presence of an Internet connection falls to 12.7%. It is therefore necessary to undertake the activities aimed at elder population in order to overcome the reasons for the obstacles of the use of Internet, the lack of skills, the perception of uselessness, etc.