Rebuild thinking about the future. This is the idea that comes from Mitrovica, the capital of the district of the same name in northern Kosovo and a symbol of the ethnic rift between Serbs and Albanians. A delegation made up of institutional representatives and technicians from the Kosovar-Albanian part of Mitrovica, with its 307.500 inhabitants, went to Trento to learn more about Trentino Network's digital development project in Trentino. The general objective that starts from Mitrovica, in fact, is to wire its territory with optical fiber to guarantee development in line with the orientation of the European Digital Agenda 2020. It is a best practice, that of Trentino, from which can draw an example for the reconstruction of a city that just over twenty years ago had been the scene of a long civil war. "We are happy - said Paolo Simonetti, infrastructure manager of Trentino Network - to be able to continue on the path of collaboration with Kosovo started some time ago by the Province of Trento and thus be able to make our experience and expertise available to other countries of new technologies and digital development”.
During the visit, the Kosovar delegation analyzed the development model of the provincial network. It has paid particular attention to the ultra-broadband backbone which covers the entire provincial territory, allowing for free WiFi areas present in every municipality in Trentino and the WiNet radio network. Finally, the project to adapt the fiber optic telephone exchanges was also illustrated to the guests, to bring the broadband connection up to 20 Megabits per second to all the inhabitants of the area. The Mitrovica technicians then considered the innovative services for the public administration created by Trentino Network and made available to the new network infrastructure to be particularly interesting. "We were positively impressed by the project implemented by the Autonomous Province of Trento - concluded the mayor of Mitrovica Agim Bahtiri - and we will work to implement it in our city as well".
Laura Rovizzi, Chief Executive Officer of Open Gate Italia, a consultancy firm that has always followed and supported the development of the Trentino Network digital project, commented: “The Autonomous Province of Trento, with orographic characteristics particularly hostile to the development of any infrastructure, has been able, through the Trentino Network, to achieve results such as to constitute an example of best practice not only for the other Italian regions, but also for the rest of Europe. The will of the Kosovo delegation visiting Trento to give life to a digital and infrastructural development project similar to that of the Province of Trento is proof of this and we think that in the near future other countries will look at this area in view of the objectives of the 'European Digital Agenda 2020'.
