Torino City Love: TIM WCAP startups, together to tackle the emergency

As the country makes a huge effort to tackle the COVID-19 emergency, technology that leverages the sharing economy is proving that it can really make a difference. TIM WCAP, TIM's open innovation hub dedicated to Italian startup and SME companies, immediately joined the Torino City Love digital solidarity campaign launched by Torino City Lab. The initiative aims to tackle the health crisis with voluntary activities to support people and businesses in the Piedmont area.
When it began to emerge that the group most affected by the virus were the elderly, the TIM WCAP community sprung into action with the UGO caregiving platform designed especially for them.

Aimed at over 65s and those with difficulties moving around, UGO is a platform where you can request a range of services online or by phone. Its operators, equipped with the necessary health protection and in strict compliance with government rules, deal with tasks such as delivering shopping, collecting prescriptions from the doctor, paying bills and other useful services. In addition to offering it to the Turin administration, TIM has provided 750 free hours of help to assist the elderly and families.

UGO has already been successfully adopted in the Milan metropolitan area, one of the areas most affected by COVID-19, with dozens of operators specifically trained in health regulations on hand to help the local community. "We want to make a contribution to the 'stay at home' campaign and have decided to offer the help of our operators to serve the community", Michela Conti, co-founder of the startup highlighted. "By offering this free service we want to send out a strong message, only through networking and communicating, can we beat this and move on".

Ufirst is another service addressing people's needs and provided free of charge by TIM to the Municipality of Turin. It helps solve the problem of the queues that we now often see outside pharmacies and supermarkets. With this app, you can reserve your place in a virtual queue before getting to the shop, in any of the Ufirst locations. When your turn is coming up, your phone sends you a notification giving you plenty of time to get to spot, meaning you don't have to wait and so reducing your risk of contagion.

Life isn't easy for the younger generation either, stuck at home during the lockdown. TIM WCAP has come up with two other apps for Torino City Love, specifically designed to help parents keep their children entertained in a creative and constructive way.

Mash&Co, is an edutainment solution for preschoolers where Mash and his friends go on a different adventure in each episode, creating an engaging and dynamic narrative to keep little ones engaged. Parents can check their children's progress and how well they are doing with the information panel. To help you get at least a virtual foot out of the door, ArtStories is an app that illustrates the beauty of art, history and architecture for children, with the help of adults, taking them on exciting journeys of discovery through Italy's cultural heritage.

The partnership between TIM and Torino City Lab, promoter of the Torino City Love campaign, began in 2018, with the first 5G technology trials in the Piedmont capital. As part of the agreement, the first 5G applications were developed in vertical sectors of interest to the Municipality of Turin, such as drone flights and driverless cars. The COVID health emergency, that involves everyone, is the first time this collaboration has been put to the test in direct contact with the public.