Data, the key to a smart future A smart waste bin, one which opens and closes autonomously, and that can recognise users by card or smartphone and record what they have put in, alerting operators wirelessly when it is full. Is that science fiction? No, it's our Smarty waste bin, one of the latest projects launched by Hera to improve and make separate waste collection even more efficient. An initiative that easily and immediately represents, especially for customers, the innovation and digitalisation process that Hera has pursued in recent years, putting data and its analysis first. infografica_smarty.png Every day we receive millions of data, a volume of information that is not comparable to what we were facing just a few years ago. The most advanced digital systems come to our aid, such as the Internet of Things and business intelligence systems, machine learning algorithms, and artificial intelligence tools. The city of the future, the "smart city", is one of the areas in which we can most effectively express the innovation of our services. Thanks to Acantho, Hera Group's digital company with its 4,200 kilometre long proprietary fibre optic network, we have developed public Wi-Fi services, smart security systems, and digital signage such as multifunction totems that display information or promotional content. Our detection devices and sensors, connected to a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, enable us to collect information on traffic trends, air quality, usage of public parks by the building industry, and even satellite reconnaissance of roofs containing asbestos. Valuable information, which is essential to increasingly understand the local area in which we operate and to create shared value. Accessing such an advanced data pool places a great responsibility on us: to protect it. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2020, cyber-attacks are one of the top 10 risks for people and the global economy, both in terms of impact and probability. That's why we are continually working to improve our approach to cyber-security, to defend devices, users, identities, and infrastructure. Over the past few years, we have enhanced the security of email and browsing on our employees' devices and strengthened cloud protection and monitoring of our industrial plant networks to comply with the latest regulations such as the GDPR. "There are many technologies available to the world of utilities. The critical issue, and the real challenge, lies in identifying the right ones for the company's strategic goals: data analytics and intelligent automation show enormous growth potential. Understanding data and how to use it in a forward-looking approach offer unprecedented opportunities for cost-cutting, and improving our service and competitiveness," explains Salvatore Molè, Central Director of Innovation and Head of ICT at Hera Group. Smart City Visita il sito Bi-REX null https://bi-rex.it/

The office in a device. Digital workplace We introduced smart working in 2017 because we strongly believe that it can increase productivity and business performance while offering an answer to the delicate "work-life balance", by building an even deeper trust relationship with the people working in the Group. Ufficio.png In 2019 we implemented the Digital Workplace – Office 365, to get even more familiar with digital tools and make them as useful as possible. This has enabled us to give our employees mobility, collaboration, integration, simplicity, flexibility, and security. We also changed our office layouts: we set up temporary offices, to work in when away from the home office, and smart points, spaces where colleagues can collaborate with each other more easily or find the right concentration. The Digital Workplace has literally transformed the way we work, making office presence increasingly unnecessary. Documents are securely accessible from all company devices and through all channels. We have also developed a continuous backup, a virtually unlimited mailbox, and can ensure maximum availability of services, even if problems occur on the company network. Thanks to the Digital Workplace, we have also simplified installations and updates, making it possible to store and manage data in accordance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union). The Covid-19 emergency did not take us by surprise and, thanks to our major digitalisation process and to smart working, we were able to protect the health of our employees, while ensuring continuity of service and maximum support for all our customers.

Water treatment 4.0, between artificial intelligence and predictive technologies The watchword is innovation. To protect the environment and those who live in it, and to provide quality services. That's always been our belief. But there's more. We need to add another watchword: resilience, the ability to cope with change. And when we speak of climate change, we have learned that innovation and resilience are inseparable. The most modern technologies allow us, in fact, to face sudden changes, turning to prevention, the ability to predict causes and consequences, acting in advance. Image_psbo.png Following this principle, and as the second-ranking Italian operator in terms of volumes of water sold, we have earmarked Euro 830 million for smart technologies in our Business Plan for 2023. In fact, the networks and plants of the water cycle are subjected to increasing stress due to the ongoing climate change, and only our ability to adapt and innovate, has made us an Italian excellence in the industry. The investments we have made are 20% higher than the Italian average - almost Euro 176 million in 2019 alone – and reaffirm our commitment to a circular and regenerative economy, starting with water. In particular, by complying with the requests of the United Nations Global Compact on the sustainable management of water resources, we remain committed to continuously innovate the service to achieve its gradual decarbonisation. This happens not only by using only renewable energy but also through energy efficiency projects and optimisation of the processes involved in the treatment. There are two virtuous examples we are particularly proud of, the Modena treatment plant and that of Granarolo dell'Emilia (Bologna). THE SMART TREATMENT PLANT IN MODENA Blue water, clear water. This is the refrain that welcomes to Modena's smart treatment plant. Its new predictive system, unique in Italy, enables us to improve the quality of the water we return to the environment and to further reduce the energy consumption of our wastewater treatment plant. Here, technological innovation, integrated systems, and efficient use of resources are at the forefront. The project, developed together with Energy Way (the company that develops mathematical models for the efficient and sustainable development of businesses), created a system capable of controlling the oxidation process, a fundamental phase of the wastewater treatment cycle, anticipating the needs of the plant's activities. In fact, the requirements vary according to the water flow rate and the concentration of organic pollutants. The smart controller anticipates, 30 minutes in advance, the condition of the plant and acts beforehand to avoid the concentration of pollutants or energy peaks. The pilot project has yielded positive results, which we are proud of. The Modena treatment plant, which can cope with the needs of 500,000 inhabitants, recorded a 16% decrease in energy used in the oxidation process, compared to a traditional control system, and a further 8.1% decrease in the presence of nitrogen in the outgoing water (a parameter already below the regulatory limits). WELCOME TO CONSTANCE, PROTOTYPE OF THE GRANAROLO DELL’EMILIA TREATMENT PLANT It's just been born, but it's looking very promising. We are talking about CONSTANCE (COntrollo iNtelligente e geSTione Automatizzata per il trattameNto di aCque rEflue). The system is the fruit of a partnership between Hera Group and ENEA (Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente), is based on machine learning technologies, and can reduce energy and water treatment plant management costs by more than 30%. The prototype has reached a level 7 technological maturity and is ready for industrialisation; the first tests were successfully carried out in our treatment plant in Granarolo dell'Emilia (Bologna). CONSTANCE's main innovative feature enables us to remotely manage multiple treatment plants and to estimate in real-time the percentage of pollutants entering the plant, such as nitrogen, reducing them and thus returning cleaner water. "At Hera, we place technological innovation among the fundamental pillars of our management and development strategy. With this in mind, in 2017 we formed a partnership with ENEA to build projects of common interest," says Franco Fogacci, Water Director of Hera. "The experimental test project of ENEA's CONSTANCE controller at our treatment plant will allow us both to further develop skills, know-how, and transfer new technologies into real applications on an industrial scale, for the benefit of citizens and the environment", he concludes.

What about your bill? Pay it with a click Once upon a time there was paper-based billing. As soon as you saw the envelope in your mailbox you would start the usual rant: get the postal payment order, find the cash, and above all, a lot of patience to face the endless queues at the post office or at the tobacconist's. Today: your bill is digital and you pay with a click, from the comfort of your home and with your smartphone. bolletta (1).png No, it didn't take a time-travel machine to get to here. What only a few years ago seemed unthinkable, was our commitment to make Hera an even more digital company. Our mission has always been to fulfil the needs and requirements of our customers, who nowadays show that they want to express themselves through smarter ways of consumption. Such as digital payments, which can transform a repetitive and even somewhat boring activity, like paying bills, into a fast, simple and safe routine; the environment also benefits because by doing so, we contribute to reducing the use of paper. Today, there are several digital solutions (add links to The Bill > Bill payment page) that we offer our customers to help them pay without queues, without wasting time and without any risk. Thanks to our partnership with Unicredit we were the first in Italy to generate no fewer than 6 million virtual IBAN codes, which we communicated in bills or invoices. Thanks to this customers can complete their payments directly from their Internet banking site, quickly and easily. Thanks to its multi-bank and multi-channel approach, CBILL also lets our users make payments from the dashboard of their online bank, providing complete and integrated coverage of the entire bill collection process, from notice issuance to settlement. Many customers have subscribed to the Online Services of the Hera Group or use our myHera app . For them we thought of two even smarter payment methods, such as Jiffy/Bancomat Pay, with which you just need to enter your mobile phone number to be debited from your current account, and Amazon Pay, which is directly linked to your Amazon account and your default credit cards. There are a total of 149 digital wallets that we have made available to our customers, such as Masterpass, Pay with Postepay, and Apple Pay, which simplify payments via smartphone or desktop, providing a transparent and straightforward user experience. The digitalisation of our services is one of the pillars of our path towards the UN’s 2030 Global Agenda, in line with the European Union's strategy for creating a digital single market. "In 2017 alone, we invested Euro 78 million in projects designed to spread digitalisation, in areas such as smart cities, data analytics, business intelligence, Utilities 4.0, circular economy, and customer experience. We are already the most digital utility company among the 13 examined in a survey by Utilitatis, but that's not enough. The service sector is constantly changing, and the partnerships we have entered into are crucial to making a quantum leap and addressing the needs of our customers”, explains Stefano Venier, CEO of Hera Group from April 2014 to April 2022. Servizi Online Hera My Hera Android My Hera Apple no https://servizionline.gruppohera.it/auth/hera/login?goto=https:%2F%2Fservizionline.gruppohera.it%2F https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.gruppohera.app&hl=it https://apps.apple.com/it/app/my-hera/id1245611790

Bus fuel from trash: Hera's pilot project with "START" _PG_9554.1555590488.jpg To obtain clean energy to power Ravenna's buses by decomposing waste in landfills. We are not talking about the future, but about what has already come true, thanks to an innovative waste treatment plant in Ravenna. It adds another important element in the effort to reduce environmental impact and optimise waste management. The project is funded by the Emilia-Romagna Regional Administration and the European Commission, and is designed to highlight the advantages of using green natural gas. Which ones? It can contribute to replacing fossil energy sources with renewable energy sources; it can be used in the transport sector by contributing to achieving the 10% share of biofuels; it can provide logistics savings thanks to the extensive Italian natural gas network; and can be integrated with other renewable energy sources. The biomethane is collected from networks inside the landfill, and from there it is channelled into a container where it is "purified" by removing the carbon dioxide and other gases in it. From there, it reaches a tank and is used for refuelling. For now, the biomethane produced by the plant will power the buses of "Start Romagna" (Romagna's public transport company), and the pilot project will last about two years. But this is just the beginning. For the Hera Group, this is the second biomethane production facility, after the one in Sant'Agata Bolognese, which produces green energy by treating mowing, pruning and organic waste from separate waste collection. Landfill in Ravenna no http://ha.gruppohera.it/plants/composting/biometano_project/082.html