Team Côte d'Azur - Côte d'Azur Economic Newsletter

3 questions to Ludovico De Cinti, Technical Consultant, Altran:

1. As winner of the Eco Vallée prize, can you give us a short description of your project?
In recent times, a better understanding and monitoring of our environment has become much more than a purely academic issue. Understanding how and why our planet is changing might not only influence our daily lives, but also contribute to a better future. Yet, how can we understand the dynamics of such a complex and chaotic system? Even though our knowledge of the physical principles on which it is based have dramatically increased over the last centuries, we still have a lot to learn about how such basic principles interact on a global level to produce the emergent dynamics we can see every day.
Starting from this assumption, DNGPSS was designed as a system for the study of large scale emergent dynamics. It can be visualized as a swarm of GPS sensors to monitor and analyze large chaotic systems, such as atmospheric and oceanic flows and tectonic movements as well as land/air/sea traffic.

2. What are the innovative aspects that won you this prize?
We believe the key reason for our winning this prize is the solution’s adaptability to different uses.
It’s most innovative aspect lies in the unconventional use of a single processing unit, separate from a high number of GPS receiver modules. Thanks to this approach, we are proposing a unique platform for the collection of huge datasets concerning different complex dynamical systems. The users can take advantage of a modular system that can be deployed and used virtually everywhere in the world, and that can be easily adapted for the monitoring of different kinds of systems.
Furthermore, the separation of the expensive elaboration unit from the GPS modules, combined with the low prices at which such modules are currently available, opens the door to the use of a great number of sensors for a highly detailed analysis of the investigated phenomena. The collected datasets could serve for the study, analysis, modeling and monitoring of atmospheric, oceanic and tectonic movements in the framework of the GMES initiative. And the same system can also be used as a powerful aid for land/air/sea traffic monitoring and management.

3. What is the next stage?
Our first objective is to develop the project for its use in the aerospace and defense sectors, with particular attention to possible applications within the GMES initiative.
We will also be looking at the same time at how to use the system’s adaptability in other sectors where Altran Italia is already involved. And we think that the most-promising sectors are telecommunications, automotive, infrastructures, transport and energy.