The first edition of "Smart periphery”, an initiative that aims to reward a cultural project that promotes experimentation and innovation in the redevelopment of peripheral or dysfunctional urban areas using artificial intelligence technologies, is promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Art and Architecture and Urban Suburbs of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism.
With a contribution of 50 thousand euros, the project which, on the basis of data and metadata provided by the resident community, is able to improve the critical starting situation of a specific urban area included in the 14 Italian metropolitan cities covered by the call will be awarded. The data collected will be processed by artificial intelligence tools such as learning algorithms or neutral networks and artists and creatives will be called upon to contribute in the phase of elaborating the objectives and in the planning of the material redevelopment interventions with a view to realizing a cultural project that incorporates creativity in the redevelopment of collective spaces and that produces solutions that integrate perfectly with the needs of the inhabitants of the area.
Il call, open until 14 September 2018 at 12.00 and subject to registration of the interested parties on the DGAAP site, is aimed at non-profit public or private entities operating in the field of new technologies, can in association with operators in the field of promotion and enhancement of contemporary creativity and urban regeneration, with the collaboration of artists, designers, architects, or creative professionalism in the technological field.
“Creativity and technology are winning factors for the redevelopment of urban suburbs – said the new minister of Mibact, Alberto Bonisoli – The integration of the respective languages makes it possible to develop innovative models for improving the quality of life of those residing in marginal areas. With this initiative, the commitment of the Mibact is further consolidated, which is making funds available for a total of over 1 million euros, through initiatives attentive to the cultural and innovative aspect of urban redevelopment processes".
Artificial intelligence is difficult to describe, it is a broad and complex concept and therefore impossible to harness in the network of definitions. Wikipedia for AI means "the ability of a computer to perform functions and reasoning typical of the human mind", while the De Mauro dictionary describes it as "the set of studies and techniques that tend to create machines capable of solving problems and to reproduce activities typical of human intelligence”. Artificial intelligence breaks down the banks of definitions and pours elsewhere, progress and the future are found beyond the schemes and can find application in the most curious, more technological, more distant places, such as the suburbs, but not for this reason forgotten .
