Bringing Olli to the Piedmont capital, the first deployment of its kind in Italy, is the result of collaboration at the international level between the City of Turin, ITC-ILO, Reale Mutua and Local Motors. Turin was one of the winners of Local Motors' Olli Fleet Challenge, a contest between European cities to determine the best short-term urban use case for testing the self-driving shuttle. Through May, employees and guests of the UN ITC-ILO campus will be able to take a ride on Olli, while the self-driving vehicle can gather valuable data and insight from operating in real urban conditions.
The vision of this initiative goes far beyond the implementation of self-driving technology, as it aims to offer a global solution to prepare for the shifting needs of mobility in the future. The deployment carries a light environmental impact as Olli will be charged with an ample supply of clean energy from partner IREN, which recently expanded its business model into the field of electric mobility. Self-driving technology, which shifts responsibility from a human driver to artificial intelligence, is an innovation that can be thoroughly studied and tested due to a significant contribution from main sponsor Reale Mutua.
One of the unique characteristics of Olli is the way its components are produced, which includes 80% 3D-printed parts. This is an important aspect for the city of Turin, as it is currently in the process of refining similar technology at the Competence Centre for Industry 4.0. The research and innovation involved in the project around topics such as artificial intelligence, user experience and mobility are supported by the University of Turin and, specifically, its centre for transdisciplinary innovation, ICxT.
Olli's deployment at the United Nations campus will also involve a support team consisting of young citizens and university students. Olli is designed to be easily accessible to the disabled, and this functionality will be further explored in collaboration with Turin's disability manager office.
"Since 1964, the International Training Center (ITC-ILO) has had the mission of building decent work conditions and social justice for all. The Olli deployment is an example of how the world of work is changing every day under the pressure of technological, social and environmental innovation factors, and therefore is an excellent opportunity for us to explore the dynamics of the 'future of work,' the context in which we will be called to continue our mandate."
Yanguo LIU, ITCILO Director
"Driving innovation, supporting it and making our country an attractive and competitive place in the field of new technologies is an essential step in our growth and development. Today in Turin, we see the impact of an important milestone that many cities are achieving thanks to the public-private partnership. As a government, we are working hard to ensure that new technologies can be used as real support for our citizens. And I am sure this moment is getting closer."
Paola PISANO, Minister for Technological Innovation and Digitisation
"The deployment of Olli, the self-driving shuttle, which begins today, can be seen running along the avenues of the Turin campus of the United Nations. It marks a new success for Turin that - through teamwork involving public institutions, universities and the business world - created the conditions to propose itself as an urban laboratory equipped for testing technologically innovative solutions. This launch is something extremely attractive for companies with a strong social impact and, especially an element that should never be underestimated — particular attention to environmental sustainability."
Chiara APPENDINO, Mayor of Turin
"The mobility of the future implies a necessary paradigm shift, which goes far beyond technology. It has new impacts on environmental sustainability and for citizens, new value-added services - such as new insurance models - forms of collaboration between innovation and ecosystem partners, new production systems such as additive manufacturing and 3D printing, new skills to be created and professionalism to be defined. The systemic vision that characterises this trial makes us proud. Our 'Turin City Lab' innovation strategy can only aspire to grow with international projects like this, making our city a fertile and attractive place/city for ideas, innovation and investments for local and foreign players. Welcome to Turin, Olli."
Marco PIRONTI, Councillor for innovation of the Municipality of Turin
"As the University of Turin, we are partners and supporters of the launch of the Olli trial on the ITC-ILO campus in Turin. Our involvement stems from the priority we give to research through interdisciplinary innovation centres like ICxT. These are centers focused on highly interdisciplinary matters such as artificial intelligence, user experience, and mobility of the future. For this reason, we are very proud to be able to provide a new study and research opportunity to teachers and students who will be trained and involved in the Olli project. Research is the driving force of UniTo and is, for our University, closely related to the quality of the teaching."
Stefano GEUNA, Rector of the University of Turin
"Local Motors is thrilled that our first Olli deployment in the EU is on the ITC-ILO, Turin campus. ITC shares our strong belief in equality and inclusivity," said Vikrant Aggarwal, President of Local Motors. "This partnership offers an opportunity to enhance the mobility experience to those dedicated to promoting social justice, and we are confident that collaborating with ITC-ILO will demonstrate the benefits of inclusive mobility. We look forward to continuing our work together to improve access to mobility in Turin, greater Italy, and Europe."
Vikrant AGGARWAL, President of Local Motors
"We are very proud to contribute to an innovative project for Italy that promotes the trial of vehicles for urban transport capable of autonomous driving and low environmental impact thanks to their electrical power supply. The mobility paradigm is changing at an ever increasing pace, and we at Reale Group have been among the first in Italy to take an interest in the technical-insurance issues related to the world of self-driving vehicles. Reale Mutua plays two roles within the initiative: as a main sponsor, concretely supporting the development and diffusion of this new technology, and as an insurer providing third party insurance for potential damage caused by the vehicle during the deployment on the campus."
Luigi LANA, President of Reale Mutua
"Iren has always been interested in innovative projects that can generate value for the region and contribute to the improvement of the services offered to its citizens. The subject of electric mobility, including elements of innovation such as self-driving, is of the utmost interest to our group. Through IrenGo, our business line is dedicated to e-mobility. In recent months, we have developed several sustainable mobility projects in the areas in which we are present, to the benefit of the environmental quality of our cities and consequently to the lives of their citizens."
Renato BOERO, President of IREN
"For CIRFOOD, sustainability and innovation are essential, because we believe they are fundamental ingredients for the long-term success of a company. Every year we invest in projects to promote the culture of food, the prevention of waste, the reduction of the ecological footprint on the planet; as well as to enhance the contribution of our people by promoting good practices for an increasingly sustainable daily life and future, in line with the objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda, a point of reference also for our company."
