Italy’s National Centre for Sustainable Mobility, known as MOST, has announced a plan worth about €10 million to help turn mobility research into products and services. The Initiative follows three years of work funded by the country’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), and comes as the centre looks to maintain activity beyond that programme.
MOST says €378 million in PNRR funding supported research, technology transfer and operational work. That effort produced more than 50 prototypes and 90 projects with a high level of technological readiness, with a combined value of about €110 million.
The largest share of the new plan, €5.5 million, is earmarked for Fast Track to Market, a programme intended to help research results reach businesses and the market. A further €1.5 million will support projects shaped by industrial needs, €1 million will go to startups, and €500,000 will help researchers access research infrastructure.
The centre also reported that its calls involved 174 small and medium-sized companies. In 2024 and 2025, its entrepreneurship initiatives received more than 300 applications and awarded €8.5 million in grants to 50 startups. MOST separately invested €2.9 million in equity in nine innovative startups.
Its research areas include transport decarbonisation, autonomous and connected mobility, infrastructure safety and logistics. The centre’s stated focus is on using data and technology to connect vehicles, transport networks and services, rather than treating them as separate systems.
MOST president Ferruccio Resta said that technology can remain at the prototype stage without appropriate rules, and argued that decisions are needed to move research into practice. The centre has also announced a consolidation plan for 2027–2029 and a pipeline of more than €70 million in projects involving Italy’s Ministry of Universities and Research and European programmes for 2027–2028.
Research and connected infrastructure are already being applied to roads. Autostrade per l’Italia chief executive Arrigo Giana cited work with MOST on the Naples ring road, which he described as Italy’s first smart road certified by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. Cameras, sensors and antennas collect traffic information and support services such as Dynamic Speed Limit, which recommends speeds intended to improve traffic flow and safety.
University and Research Minister Anna Maria Bernini called for continuity in investment, saying that networks created through the PNRR should become a lasting national asset. Autostrade per l’Italia reported more than €3.3 billion in investment in maintenance, infrastructure and technology between 2025 and the first half of 2026.
Sources: Il Sole 24 Ore Italia.