The Casa delle Tecnologie Emergenti di Cagliari (CTE – Cagliari DLab) is one of Italy’s leading hubs for developing and experimenting with emerging technologies. Promoted by the City of Cagliari with the support of the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT), the initiative fosters innovation through collaboration between enterprises, universities, and research centers.
Within this framework, ITER IDEA has been selected as one of the five winners of the Call4Solution DLab with the project Q-PLAN, an experimental extension of our product AIRP (AI-Aided Resource Planner) that integrates quantum computing algorithms to tackle highly complex scheduling problems.
AIRP: from AI planning to quantum computing
AIRP is ITER IDEA’s SaaS platform that enables organizations to design and deploy intelligent planning agents for optimal resource allocation, combining constraints, objectives, and historical data analysis.
Today, AIRP is already used in high-complexity, real-world scenarios:
- Public sector (GovTech): the Rural Payment Inspection Division of the Scottish Government uses AIRP to plan the activities of 550 staff members across 18 offices;
- Healthcare: to optimize nurse shift scheduling;
- Manufacturing: to support dynamic allocation of resources along production lines.
In just 10 months, ITER IDEA secured 7 PoCs with paying clients and gained international recognition, including a pre-acceleration contract from gener8tor Wisconsin in the United States and selection for the gBeta Applied AI Lab for Manufacturing.
Q-PLAN: the winning proposal
With Q-PLAN, ITER IDEA introduces the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) into AIRP’s optimization engine.
The goal is to assess whether quantum computing can:
- improve efficiency in high-dimensional, multi-objective scheduling problems;
- reduce computation times compared to classical Constraint Programming (CP) libraries;
- address the complex logistical constraints typical of urban and public service contexts.
A first case study has been carried out with AMAT – Agenzia Mobilità Ambiente Territorio di Milano, which supports the Municipality of Milan in transportation, maintenance, and urban inspection services.
With Q-PLAN, planners can integrate data on availability, skills, and operational priorities to generate optimized schedules in just seconds, far beyond the capabilities of traditional tools.
Why this project matters
European benchmarks show that over 30% of urban interventions are delayed due to inefficient planning. Industry studies estimate that adopting advanced scheduling systems can deliver operational savings of more than 20%.
With Q-PLAN, ITER IDEA aims to bridge a technological gap: no commercial resource planning platform currently integrates quantum computing.
Collaboration and outlook
ITER IDEA will have the opportunity to test Q-PLAN in real-world smart city scenarios and to collaborate with partners such as CRS4, the University of Cagliari, Abinsula, TIM, WindTre, ARTES 4.0, and many others.
The project will allow us to:
- validate the benefits of quantum computing in urban and enterprise environments;
- directly compare classical and quantum approaches;
- contribute to the digital transformation of the territory with scalable, sustainable solutions.
Conclusion
The Cagliari DLab Call4Solution is an important recognition for ITER IDEA and marks the beginning of a new phase of experimentation.
With Q-PLAN, we aim to demonstrate how even the most advanced technologies – like quantum computing – can evolve into practical, measurable tools that serve citizens, businesses, and public administrations.
