Leonardo will present the AW609, the first and only tiltrotor to receive civil certification at Expo 2020

On the occasion of the digital event Pre-Expo week “Travel & Connectivity”, the Italian-headquartered multinational Aerospace, Defence, and Security Company, Leonardo wanted to provide its contribution. A video on the topic "Connecting (urban) dots for safer and sustainable cities", hosted in the programme of the Italian Pavilion, gives a flavour of the company’s vision on connected and intelligent cities.

"As the Expo motto ‘Connecting Mind – Creating the Future’ explains, connections are the way to build our future. Connections among people, connections between devices, connections within cities and between cities” explained Giacomo Speretta, responsible for cyber security marketing, business development and sales strategy at Leonardo.

“Thanks to physical and digital connections we will be open to infinite possibilities. Starting from physical connections, there will be a new way of thinking on people and goods transport, including what is called Urban Air Mobility, where we include technologies, procedures, infrastructures and regulations that can introduce new services for people with electric-powered vehicles able to take-off and land vertically.”

In the field of passenger transportation, at Expo 2020 Dubai Leonardo will be presenting the AW609, the first and only tiltrotor to receive civil certification. A new type of aircraft that combines the vertical lift-off/landing capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and comfort of a traditional aircraft.

“In the same way, – continues Speretta – we also look at the Urban Air Logistics segment, namely the transport of goods using drones in the city. Here, together with our partners, we’ve already undertaken some trials. We have successfully completed the transportation of biomedical material with an unmanned air system to a hospital set more than 30 km away. We also carried out a test campaign for the delivery of goods of more than 20 kg in an urban area with the use of an electric-powered drone weighing more than 100 kg and controlled beyond the visual line of sight of the operator.”

“The city will also need systems for the efficient monitoring and management of urban traffic, platforms for the control and management of local public transport fleets, but also – shifting to digital connections – command, control and video technologies for the analysis and the monitoring of safety in urban and public places such as squares, stations, airports.”

“Key elements of these smart cities will also be the physical and cyber protection of Critical Infrastructures, such as hospitals, airports, and energy plants. The more connections that are going digital, the higher the need for cyber-secured-by-design protection.”

The manager explained that in this new connected scenario, the challenges will be huge and only digitalisation will provide the right safety and protection.

“Big Data and Artificial Intelligence will increasingly support people, providing them with situational awareness for taking the right decisions.”

“At Leonardo, we have developed a platform that allows municipal administrations, law enforcement agencies, health facilities and civil protection agencies to integrate existing systems (like cameras and control rooms) and monitor traffic, street accidents, emergencies, infrastructure, and geological monitoring, allowing us to live in a smart and safe city. We call this a system of systems".

Lastly, a 'smart city' is also sustainable with the optimization of energy consumption. This is thanks to energy management solutions, which are able to plan an intelligent use of energy, alongside economic resources, that support the green economy.

“Only thanks to the synergies between information technology, communications, physical and digital security, we can design and develop integrated platforms for the security and control of the territory, the protection of people and of national infrastructures” concluded Speretta.

— business@khaleejtimes.com