FONDAZIONE LINKS - LEADING INNOVATION & KNOWLEDGE FOR SOCIETY

Their core work

Fondazione LINKS is a Turin-based applied research centre that develops and integrates digital technologies — particularly Internet of Things platforms, big data analytics, and cyber-physical systems — for real-world deployment across energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and urban infrastructure. They bridge the gap between academic research and market-ready solutions, with strong capabilities in building large-scale IoT pilots, smart city platforms, and data-driven decision support systems. Their work spans from satellite navigation (EGNSS) applications to smart farming, energy storage optimization, and urban resilience tools. They frequently serve as the technology integration partner in large European consortia, turning research prototypes into deployable systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early phase (2015–2017), LINKS focused heavily on satellite navigation (EGNSS/Galileo), IoT ecosystem building, and foundational digital services like multilingual content enrichment and technology transfer. From 2018 onward, the centre shifted decisively toward applied urban and industrial challenges — digital twins, blockchain, cybersecurity, urban commons, and resilience became dominant themes. This evolution reflects a move from enabling-technology research toward deploying integrated solutions for cities, energy grids, and critical infrastructure.

LINKS is moving from building IoT platforms toward applying them to urban resilience, sustainability, and secure digital infrastructure — making them an increasingly relevant partner for smart city and green transition projects.

How they like to work

LINKS operates primarily as an active partner (56 of 71 projects), but has meaningful coordination experience with 13 projects led — indicating they can both lead and contribute effectively. With 1,017 unique consortium partners across 46 countries, they are a genuine hub in European research networks, comfortable in large-scale Innovation Actions (36 IA projects). Their broad partner base suggests they prioritize building new connections over repeating the same consortia, making them an accessible entry point for organizations seeking a well-connected Italian technology partner.

An exceptionally well-connected research centre with over 1,000 unique consortium partners spanning 46 countries. Their network is pan-European with no narrow geographic concentration, reflecting the breadth of their thematic interests from transport to agriculture to energy.

What sets them apart

LINKS occupies a distinctive niche as a full-stack digital integration centre: they combine IoT, big data, satellite positioning, and cybersecurity capabilities under one roof, which is rare for a single organization. Unlike universities that produce papers or companies that sell products, LINKS specializes in the difficult middle ground — assembling research technologies into working pilot systems at European scale. Their Turin base also positions them within one of Italy's strongest industrial and innovation ecosystems (Politecnico di Torino, automotive sector, aerospace), giving them direct access to end-user industries for validation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• I-REACT
  Coordinated project (EUR 822K) combining Copernicus satellite data, big data, and crowdsourcing for disaster resilience — exemplifies their ability to integrate multiple tech domains into real-world emergency systems.
• IoF2020
  Major large-scale IoT pilot for smart farming and food security with EUR 296K contribution — demonstrates their capacity to operate within flagship European IoT demonstrations.
• MONICA
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 927K) for managing networked IoT wearables at very large scale in cultural and societal applications — showcases deployment capability beyond lab settings.