The realization of such innovative project is promoted by the municipality through the activity of the controlled company Venis (Venis Informatics and systems). The implementation of the project was started through the application of web 2.0 informatics technologies to the municipalities procedure, in order to simplify them and to develop interactive systems to share information with the citizens. In 2008, the municipality launched the IRIS project (Internet Reporting Information System) an open-source IT platform enabling citizens to report inefficiency connected to the urban maintenance. Since the activation of the project, almost one year ago, the total number of reports was 1.794, with 1.170 cases solved. In addition to IRIS, also the service //Venice>connected has been activated a few months ago. This service allows tourists to book their stay in advance, buying various service/products (public transportation, museum tickets, WiFi access etc) at a reduced rate, according to the season and the amount of tourists coming into the city.

In the first months of this year, the city administration has finalized the installation of the optical fibre broad-band and Wi-Fi systems, allowing since July 3rd free internet access to citizens. The service will be granted also to non-residents (free for workers, students and visitors, while tourists will have to pay a small amount of money). The project was presented in 2007 on the occasion of a public meeting held at Telecom Future Centre in Venice. The project was completely sponsored by the municipality (10 million euros) using funds received by the European Bank for Investments for the bigger project called “Ambiente Urbano Venezia II – Sistema Venezia”.

One of the most convinced advocates of the initiative was deputy-major Michele Vianello, for whom free-access to the Internet and the use of innovative tools for the spreading of knowledge and information is a right that cannot be denied to citizens, in order to strengthen democratic participation in the life of the community. These initiatives to promote and spread information technology have even further implications for Venice, since they contribute to the renewal of the city’s public image, still invariably tied only to the past. The message is obviously mainly directed towards those who do not know the city from the inside, those who ignore the process leading the city to the present by means of several projects already implemented in various fields (environment, culture, economy and infrastructures).