Growing automation in company processes, in the most varied of sectors, leads to the generation of vast amounts of data which, if not properly handled, can lead to the registering of incidents, problems and change requests.

Service Desk is a system of people, processes and products which acts as an interface between users and all corporate ICT services, managing assistance request steps and the resolution of all incidents and problems.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning can streamline decision-making processes and improve the speed and accuracy of business processes.
In coordinating service desk operations AI can therefore:

1. Facilitate the restoration of normal service operation in the shortest possible time.
2. Reduce the effort needed to resolve notifications of incidents and process service requests.
3. Support less expert operators with knowledge acquired from the best.
4. Lead to significant improvements in the quality of the service desk itself and
5. significantly reduce costs.

Maps Smart Desk Assistant: AI supporting better Service Desk management.

Smart Desk Assistant (SDA) by Maps is the Intelligent Automation system based on machine learning techniques which sets out to:

1. make suggestions to operators for the purpose of uniforming knowledge within the service desk team and support them during periods of intense activity or stress;
2. provide support for team supervisors.

In the first case, to make suggestions to the operator, Smart Desk Assistant can be:

• integrated with the API of the tracking system (for example ServiceNow);
• used as an independent application;
• integrated with a conversation bot which can simulate an intelligent conversation with the user. In this way, Smart Desk Assistant can understand the intent and interest of the user and propose solutions.

In the second case, to offer support to supervisors, Smart Desk Assistant

• allows supervisors to monitor the work of the team;
• it can be used to approve the work of both the virtual assistant (Smart Desk Assistant) and the human operator.

How does Smart Desk Assistant work?

• It fills in key fields (category, subcategory, assignment group, urgency, impact and other) and functions with any selected set of request attributes;
• it automatically adjusts itself to organizational changes,
• it learns even in the presence of human error;
• it connects to ServiceNow (or other similar system) with different integration techniques.

Service management lies at the center of the Smart Desk Assistant system to guarantee the correct delivery of services, an increase in the capacity of corporate resources (with a marked reduction in costs) and the strengthening of corporate workflow automation processes.

And that’s not all, the system

• reduces breaches of the Service Level Agreement;
• reduces request classification errors and speeds up processing of the same, putting in place a highly accurate classification (the same if not better than that of a human operator).

And for anyone using ITIL? Maps and intervention for EFSA.

An example of Smart Desk Assistant use is that of the EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority which has adopted ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), a series of guidelines for the management of IT services.

 
The use of Smart Desk Assistant in an ITIL context has brought with it the following benefits:

1. Continuous improvement in the service: SDA is configured as a useful support tool for the supervisor;
2. For service Operators: SDA becomes a valid help for routing and classifying tickets;
3. Service Management: with SDA, calculation of the Service Level Agreement is more objective.

If you want to try out how SDA works, take a look at a work diagram as shown in the figure:

Throughout the trial period you will be able to use the following applications:

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[/sf_iconbox] ‘Suggestion’ application for classifying new tickets and suggesting solutions from previously resolved cases.

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[/sf_iconbox] ‘Control’ application for an in-depth analysis of faults.

 
In the Digital Transformation and Internet of Things era, the need is to continuously speed up functions and only thanks to an evolved service management, which takes care of managing work processes, is this possible.
Because streamlining and simplification are achieved through automation. And through Smart Desk Assistant by Maps.

How can you promote innovation and reduce electricity costs? With smart grids.

New technologies for using renewable energy sources and storing energy will be the sectors of challenge over the coming years. The energy industry is placing its expectations in Smart Grids, in order to exploit technological innovation in the energy sector.
In fact the concept of interconnected systems comes from the idea of smart grids, an intelligent grid in the true sense of the word which can:

• determine thermal and electrical energy demands in advance,
• channel the flow of energy in an active and bi-directional way with the aid of electronics, IT systems and telecommunications,
• create interaction between producers and consumers so that peaks in demand can be managed with greater efficiency.

Smart grids are already a reality and one of Europe’s very first smart grid pilot plants is right here in Italy.

We are talking of a 50,000-m² area on the Savona University Campus which houses the Smart Polygeneration Microgrid (SPM), an energy distribution system (thermal and electrical) equipped with central intelligence supervised by the  DEMS (Decentralized Energy Management System) platform, an energy management system developed by Siemens.
Maps Group undertook to create and test an innovative control system in the Savona Smart Grid which, also through the use of predictive models for predicting thermal and electrical loads and energy production from renewable sources, makes it possible to plan optimum management of the Campus energy resources in real time.
The aim was to implement a node in a Demand Response system capable of:

• receiving peak shaving requests from the DSO (Energy Distributor);
• optimizing available energy resources (energy sources, accumulation units and charges).

To achieve this aim, Maps developed ROSE. This product is based on the integration and development of advanced ICT tools and represents a verticalization of the SmartAggregator tool

which makes it possible to:

• acquire data from sensors and semantically manage the interpretation of these values,
• analyze information for predictive purposes and to support decision-making processes.

To adapt ROSE to the characteristics of the Savona SPM it was necessary to customize certain components. To do this the Maps Group Research & Development department availed itself of the domain competences of Genoa University researchers, Michela Robba and Mansueto Rossi.

By perfecting and using a special neural network model and subsequent validation of the proposed model’s performance, it was shown how the ROSE project was able to accurately predict user demand and the behavior of different energy sources.

ROSE can therefore be an essential tool for the correct and optimal management of complex grids. But the conception and modeling of an intelligent electrical grid require practice and commitment.

This is why the Maps Group, with the ROSE project, wishes to propose advanced ICT systems for the purpose of following the evolution of the times to ensure a service which is efficient and as avant-garde as possible.

A service which can:

1. Dialog with the distributor’s systems (DSO) in order to operate with distributor in managing energy flows.
2. Operate optimal control in real time of the energy production, consumption and storage systems.
3. Optimize thermal and electrical energy consumptions, minimizing CO2 emissions, annual operating costs and the consumption of primary energy.

Knowing how to best manage these innovative scenarios is therefore the new challenge which Maps Group has set itself.
If you want to know more, simply download the White Paper free of charge and read more details on the management and control strategies in the Smart Polygeneration Microgrid on the Savona University Campus made possible thanks to ROSE!

To download the White Paper click on the cover image:

Once again this year, Maps Group will be taking part in the Global City Teams Challenge, to be held in Washington on 28 and 29 August 2017.
This annual event of international importance is organized by Nist (National Institute of Standards and Technology), the US government body responsible for setting standards in the area of applications/technology.
A number of sectors will be involved in the event: from transport to security, as well as energy, the environment, connectivity and knowledge sharing.
Maps Group will be present together with Enel’s “Global Program Manager for Energy Efficiency Solutions”, as well as the person in charge of “IT Planning and Supra-national Projects” for the Municipality of Genoa.
Specifically, the Group will be taking part in the Energy Action Cluster via the Municipality of Genoa (only Municipalities may take part directly in the event), and will bring ROSE (Real Time Operational for Smart Grid for Europe ), a project presented by the City of Genoa and carried out in collaboration with the University of Genoa, Savona university campus and Enel.
This is the prototype of a project presented last year as a concept, dealing with the smart management of a smart grid able to produce and distribute energy from renewable sources, with a view to optimizing production based on demand, and thus saving in economic terms and reducing emissions.
This year, the following SUPERCLUSTERS (bringing together the same type of individual clusters from each city and grouping them into macro-clusters on a shared theme) will be present:

• Transportation SuperCluster (TSC)
• City Platform/Dashboard SuperCluster (CPSC)
• Public Safety SuperCluster (PSSC)
• Energy/Water/Waste Management SuperCluster (EWSC), where the MAPS-ENEL-Municipality of Genoa stand will be present in the area dedicated to the EWSC Supercluster, together with other US cities.
• Public WiFi SuperCluster (PWSC)

The agenda of the event (which is being updated continually) can be found at the following link.
See you across the ocean!
Maps Group

Maps Group: “dedications” as added value in a system of shared corporate values.

 
[dropcap3]I[/dropcap3]t is not easy for a company to talk about its own values. It risks sounding rhetorical, or self-referential. As part of the creation of its new and recently-inaugruated headquarters in Parma, Maps Group decided to let other voices and faces talk about the values that inspire the group, through the portraits, words and short biographies of men and women who have not only represented those values, but have embodied them in exemplary fashion their whole lives. The occasion was a series of “dedications” of the eight conference rooms in the headquarters which offer an itinerary that is symbolic but also tangible and fully visible to all, thanks to the display of a series of iconographic plaques*.

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The plaques—which include a portrait of the individual, a quote and a short biography—have been hung in the rooms to pay homage to these great men and women, each exemplary in his or her own way, of Maps values.
First the driving force both inside and outside the group: putting people first, identifying opportunities and the means by which the individual is not only the lynchpin of technical and professional activities, but also important from a personal, experiential and relational standpoint.
Also selected as oustanding testimonials were Edgar Morin, whose “La Tête bien faite” is still an exemplary model in the search for meaning for Man, Ada Lovelace, a rare example of intellectual and technical emancipation, Tiziano Terzani, untiring explorer of the human odyssey, and Loris Malaguzzi, whose excellence as a teacher is reflected in his approach to education and learning. Each chosen because of an extraordinary spirit of initiative and breadth of vision, both present and future.
[bctt tweet=”Maps Group and the two dedications: eight leaders that represent values both shared and sharable.” username=”MapsGroup”]
Secondly, the expressive and communicational attention of the dedications shifted to the values of control and acting consciously, with the goal of being able to explore and share knowledge.
Here the leaders cited were Alan Turing, an extraordinary forerunner in artificial intelligence, and Italo Calvino, a visionary interpreter of human knowledge, both men capable of combining various languages and modes of expression into a single lucid and pro-active theme.
And, finally, the company’s own North Star was reflected in perhaps the most important values for governance: ethics. Courage and professionalism, a pioneering spirit and ability to conduct oneself and others towards a goal that is anything but utopian, can be seen in Giorgio Ambrosoli, a rare example of courage and civil conscience, together with Giorgio Ambrosoli to whom the main meeting room in the headquarters is dedicated—in recognition of his unique strategic ability as a captain of industry—whose life was dedicated to the search, experimentation and implementation of an ethical and effective way of working “together”.
A guide capable of acting as a polar star in a universe of values whose most profound significance must never be lost sight of.

* The portraits were done by Gerardo Lunatici, a Tuscan-Emilian painter and illustrator.

Maps Group’s new headquarters are ready to go: putting people at the center. An all-new work experience. Designed for complexity!

 
[dropcap3]M[/dropcap3]aps Group’s new “home” is finally ready. Everything in its place, down to the last detail. We asked Marco Ciscato, the group’s managing director, to talk to us about the company’s decision and how the idea to make the new headquarters a place to work and share, as well as the expression of its corporate vision and values, was born and developed.
First a comment. The initial impression is that the new Maps Group offices are truly lovely. And, at least, by all appearances, very comfortable. Was this a conscious choice or just a fortuitous coincidence?
In looking for our new “home” — a task which required some time to find a site with all the requisites we were looking for — we immediately had in mind a number of key aspects.
First of all, that it should be a place where the people who work for our company would always feel completely comfortable, both while working and during breaks or when they wanted to relax.
They we thought about logistics. We wanted a place that would be accessible from all points-of-view: close to major highways, available parking and public transport.

But the cosmetic aspects were not ignored, quite the opposite. Above and beyond the numerous studies that show how the places and ambiences in which we find ourselves influence our state-of-mind and well-being, working in a pleasant environment—or, more precisely, living there, because the time we spend at work is actually our lives—undoubtedly makes everyone more creative and, together, more productive. In short, we tried to combine the much-touted “business with pleasure”.

[bctt tweet=”The Maps Group’s new headquarters in Parma are ready: people and values at the heart of the project.” username=”MapsGroup”]

You often speak of values and factors of well-being and emancipation. From its founding to the present, what are the values that have formed the basis of the group? And in what way does your new headquarters embody and reflect them?

We have tried to grow by taking on both how we approach the market and manage personnel without ever forgetting the ethical principles that underlie our shared experience. The intent being to consolidate and share the fundamental values of our identity that represent not only our vision as a group, but also our way of working and grappling with challenges on a daily basis.

We are aware that the people who work with Maps are our primary asset and, therefore, we decided to put them at the center of our choices, also because we realize we ask a lot of them. Therefore, we have carefully developed a shared environment based on trust which has allowed us to give those who work for the group benefits and services that are becoming increasingly popular, and for which we have been “pioneers” in providing, in particular telecommuting and flexible work hours.

Our decision to move headquarters is part of this broader context, in search of an environment that could represent our identity and a place in which it would be nice for us and the people who work for us to live.

Plus, remember that complexity is—as they say—our bread and butter, and being able to work in this environment requires a broad range of skills and factors that interact with each other: autonomy, sharing, responsibility, organization … these values are also the guidelines that chart the course of our work. From this standpoint, our new “home” is an excellent base, of both arrival and departure.

[bctt tweet=”Our mission is not only to accept new challenges, but also to search them out in unexplored areas.” username=”MapsGroup”]

Does this unusual and innovative (at least for Italy) modus operandi also translate into quality, safety and reliability of the products and services you offer?
This is what we hope and what we believe. In fact, our mission is not just to accept new challenges, but also to search them out in areas of knowledge and business still to be explored. To do this with a sense of serenity and conscientiousness, we must be certain that we have, in-house, the capacity for inventiveness, control, reaction and resilience, even more so in a sector such as ours in continuous evolution.

Creating such a pleasant work environment, putting each of us in the best conditions to do so, offering our employees, partners and contract workers a place in which they can grow professionally and increase in-house awareness of emancipation and enterprise, seem to us to be a good way to keep up with our desire to be forerunners—and sometimes pioneers—in new frontiers of business and knowledge.

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“Smart Cities Innovation Challenge” 2016: Maps Group will be there!

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June 13-15, 2016 • Austin – TX: When IoT and Smart rhyme with Globality.

 
This event, in its third year, is an extraordinary occasion to get a global reading on the opportunities for development and innovation starting from today’s critical areas, such as climate, energy and demographic issues. The end-goal is to find, share and accelerate innovative solutions for the development of Smart Cities.
In fact, thanks to the sharing of planning skills, expertise and potential areas for investment and business, innovative practices, proposals and projects to accelerate the smart development of urban communities throughout the world will be explored.
Replicability, Scalability, Sustainability and Interoperability:: these are the tags that describe the event in which participants are asked to contribute to the following themes on the agenda:
[list] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Transportation[/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Sensor Networks [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]ICT Networks [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Cyber Security [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Buildings & Efficiency [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Urban Planning [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Islands/Isolated Communities [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Water Management [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Waste Management [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Weather Solutions [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Gov/Civic Services [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Emergency Services [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Healthcare Solutions [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Environmental Solutions [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Finance Solutions [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Education Solutions [/list_item] [list_item icon=”ss-pointright”]Tools & Platforms[/list_item] [/list]
[bctt tweet=”#GCTCExpo2016 and #MapsGroup. ” username=”MapsGroup”]
Maps Group will be among the Italian representatives at the event, part of a long list of participants which includes: Hitachi, IBM,  MathWorks, Nokia, North Carolina A&T State University, Temple University, University of North Texas, and University of Texas at Austin.
In terms of the agenda of solutions Maps Group will be presenting during the initiative, in the forefront will be the demonstration of its energy distribution monitoring and control systems. To follow the event on Twitter, use the hashtags #GCTCExpo2016 and #MapsGroup.
 
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