Italy’s Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security has signed a collaboration agreement with Infratel Italia SpA, a subsidiary of the national development agency Invitalia, to implement SIM, the country’s new national technological infrastructure for environmental safety. Infratel will be responsible for verification, design, works management and safety coordination of the infrastructure developed for civil protection. Leonardo and DXC Technology are the project’s technology partners.

“SIM provides Italy with a new advanced tool for hydrogeological safety, spatial planning and adaptation to climate change. Through the integration of data, knowledge and expertise, SIM will enable public policies to be geared towards prevention, intervening in key areas such as combating hydrogeological instability, emergency support, monitoring marine and coastal pollution, combating environmental crimes, fires and precision agriculture,” Infratel Italia said.

The programme provides around €260 million in funding for 5,221 projects across the country to protect local communities from environmental threats.

“The investment is divided between the upgrading of specialised networks, with approximately €54.5 million allocated to the hydrometeorological network (the largest with 4,129 sites), over €53.8 million for the radar network (30 sites) and €35.6 million for landslide monitoring (183 sites). Other significant interventions concern the seismic network (€26.3 million for 356 sites) and advanced technological equipment, such as marine sensors and drones, worth approximately €23.3 million,” the company added.