he University of Virginia will host Mayor Matteo Lepore from Bologna, Italy and his senior academic advisers on Grounds and in Northern Virginia October 17-18 to explore an exciting and innovative new research partnership. 

Mayor Lepore, one of Europe’s more visionary municipal leaders, has mobilized Bologna’s academic, economic, and political leadership around his plan to establish Bologna as a “City of Knowledge” focused on using artificial intelligence and data analysis to govern the city, and plan its development, in an equitable and environmentally sustainable way. The city’s project includes creating a “digital twin” – a kind of dashboard integrating millions of pieces of data with the help of Bologna-based “Leonardo,” one of the fastest super computers in Europe. The city’s digital twin aims to provide real-time data on a wide variety of factors critical to good governance, including the city’s use of energy and other resources; access to affordable housing, green space, and health care; transportation needs and flows; pollution and crime levels; economic development; infrastructure reliability; and a range of other indicators. 

As part of the initiative, Bologna plans to develop a close partnership with the city’s business community to explore the use of artificial intelligence in promoting commercial innovation for the benefit of its broader region. Mayor Lepore is also interested in applying new tools of data analysis and artificial intelligence to the liberal arts, with a focus on developing greater understanding of Bologna’s difficult history with fascism in the early 20th century, and establishing regionally-oriented collegia to host international communities of artists and scholars.