A Cloud-Edge Architecture to Support Post-Earthquake Reconstruction in Central Italy

Technological innovation is functional in various areas, from the digitization of Public Administration to citizen services and welfare. Today the “Science of Where” applies data-driven approach that uses geography to unlock understanding of our world, through Geographical Information System (GIS). GIS is thus linked to the social context, and the adoption of GIS as a decision-support tool is becoming increasingly widespread. In fact, this technology can help explore and visualize large volumes of data - dubbed “the new oil” by Clive Humby in 2006 - combining different aspects (geographic and non-geographic) for better management of activities and resources on Earth to maintain economic viability, environmental quality and smart living. Accordingly, this study presents a novel cloud-edge GIS architecture designed to support the Special Office for the Reconstruction of the Municipalities of the Seismic Crater (USRC), operating in Central Italy for the 2009 post-earthquake reconstruction process, to decentralize power at the edge of the network and create an advanced distributed system that improves operational efficiency, increases performance and ensures data security. Proposed solution will be useful for further work, such as urban regeneration, sub-service planning for smart communities, and analysis of (cyber-)security scenarios.