Turin, European Capital of Innovation
The City of Torino has been awarded two new and prestigious international honors by the European Commission, being named the “European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025”, as well as “European Capital on Innovation 2024-25”.
Following the recent title of “European Capital of Innovation,” the city has once again been recognized at the European level, this time for its excellence in smart tourism by promoting sustainable and innovative solutions.
Torino was shortlisted alongside six other European cities, selected by the European Commission from a pool of 21 candidates across 10 countries. Along with the Piedmontese capital, the finalists included Genova, Bruxelles, Konya, Lahti, Lviv, and Porto.
The recognition is awarded annually to the European city that stands out as a leading tourist destination based on four key criteria: sustainability, accessibility, digitalization, cultural heritage, and creativity.
Regarding the digitalization criterion, emphasis has been placed on the city’s ability to act as a living lab for innovative solutions in urban environments, providing a real-world testing ground for the implementation of advanced technologies, also focused on culture and tourism. Research projects such as TrialsNet have certainly contributed to this effort, demonstrating how it is possible to guarantee efficient collaboration between public administration, private enterprises, and research institutions strengthening the tourism offer with innovative solutions. In particular, TrialsNet includes three core Use Cases based in Turin, namely UC5 - Control Room in Metaverse, UC12 - City Parks in Metaverse, and UC13 - Extended XR museum experience, and six Use Cases from the Open Call, namely CITY4ALL, Cities Without Barriers, Turin5Games, Torino 4U, DREAMPARK, and “Remember Ascari”: MR in MAUTO. These Use Cases cover different application areas of the innovation in the smart city concept, ranging from Security and Safety, to Culture, Tourism and Entertainment. The trials of these Use Cases already involved more than 30 experts and more than 130 students.
The City has been recognized for its ability to combine tradition with innovation, enhancing its historical and cultural heritage as well as its natural assets through new digital technologies and creative projects.
