It’s the end of October, and the final sprint is approaching. It’s that time of year when anxiety starts to build over the tasks still left to complete, when we begin the balancing act of prioritizing or finding solutions for those clients with urgent requests. Resources are stretched thin on all sides, and what we feel most is the shortage of staff. Yet having clear goals, supporting one another and working as a team can help us push through the stress, achieve solid results and, once again, celebrate properly at the end of the year.
At the same time, some have begun pointing to a specific date, November 3, as the start of a third world war that could begin with a single click. Of course, we’re not trying to sound alarmist or lend credence to any theory, but it’s interesting to note the tools through which it would supposedly unfold: a hacker attack. A detail that powerfully reminds us of the central role digital technology now plays in our lives and in our businesses, along with all the opportunities and risks it brings.
As our CIO Engineer Paolo Pesenti pointed out in the previous article Digital innovation and the fire protection sector: a feasible synergy, “In the next three years, the technologies that will transform the IT landscape are artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced cybersecurity, hybrid and multi-cloud environments, automation and IT process orchestration.” They may not be familiar terms to everyone, but they encapsulate the kind of potential that has driven companies to change, adapt, evolve or, in some cases, disappear.
Recent history makes this very clear. Nokia, Motorola, BlackBerry – technology giants that once seemed untouchable – were swept away because they failed to evolve quickly enough. As Nokia’s CEO himself admitted during the sale of the company, “We weren’t forward-thinking enough.” This lesson resonates strongly across all industries. And then came the pandemic, which gave an unprecedented boost to digital evolution, accelerating processes in just a few months that would normally have taken years. Video calls became routine, remote work a necessity and e-commerce the only lifeline for many businesses.
At Mozzanica, we’re the first to recognize the importance of digital tools, and over the years we’ve invested in numerous projects: from our first DOS-based management software in 1989 to handheld devices in 2011, followed by tablets and remote work in 2015, and the introduction of See.it and Tag.it in 2017 for remote monitoring of fire protection systems. In 2020 we launched Check.it, a complete platform for maintenance management. In 2023 we developed and are now patenting our Oxygen Reduction System (ORS) for fire prevention using thermal cameras. Today, we’re studying how artificial intelligence can further enhance our production processes.
However, we also firmly believe that everything must be approached with balance. The human factor should never be forgotten. We cannot simply accept a world where people are constantly connected to their smartphones, moving like robots, where digital interfaces erode human relationships between colleagues, clients and suppliers, and where children grow up scrolling touch screens instead of building real connections.
Michael Crichton, in his visionary novels, warned us about these risks. As seen in Westworld, The Terminal Man and Jurassic Park, there’s always the danger that technology can slip out of our control, that what’s presented as “the latest innovation” can become unmanageable. What’s more, the uncritical use of artificial intelligence can lead to a worrying decline in analytical ability, curiosity and critical thinking, especially among younger generations. When a student fully delegates writing an essay or solving a problem to a machine, they’re not learning, they’re giving up thinking altogether.
As in the past, Mozzanica continues and will continue to invest in technology; the fire protection sector itself increasingly demands it. Our clients in the logistics sector, for example, are building ever more intensive, fully automated warehouses equipped with robotic shuttle systems using radar, computer vision and advanced sensors. These systems can identify products, perform complex loading and unloading operations from trucks, shelving and forklifts, and autonomously manage how goods are positioned within the storage racks.
For these complex environments, Mozzanica can design and deliver turnkey fire protection systems: from the design of the pump station to the creation of the water storage tank, from sprinkler systems calibrated to specific warehouse requirements to the strategically positioned hydrant network. Every component is carefully studied and integrated into a comprehensive protection system that can be fully remote-controlled and monitored thanks to the digital technologies at our disposal. Our ORS technology in particular enables preventive thermal monitoring that can detect anomalies before a fire even starts.
This ability to offer technologically advanced solutions is the result of the investments we’ve made over time and the foresight that has always set us apart. But every innovation we introduce must first pass a crucial test: does it really improve people’s safety? Does it make our technicians’ work more effective without dehumanizing them? Does it allow our clients to operate in safer environments?
As Engineer Pesenti also pointed out, “technological change is first and foremost a cultural shift.” People need to be guided, trained and made aware that technology is an enabler, not a constraint. This approach requires time, patience, investments in continuous training at all levels of the company. But it’s the only way to ensure that innovation remains truly sustainable and doesn’t turn into a blind race toward novelty for its own sake.
Mozzanica is also convinced that change is, above all, a positive process. At times it can be intimidating or lead to difficult and even unpopular choices, yet it’s precisely through change that areas such as technology allow companies to make major strides forward. In a sensitive sector like ours, where people’s safety is at stake, this means being able to offer increasingly reliable systems, faster response times and more advanced prevention capabilities.
We want to continue along this path of technological investment, but always responsibly and with a constant awareness of how important the human factor is. Because behind every sensor, every algorithm, every automated system there are people: our technicians working in the field, our engineers designing solutions, our clients who must be able to rely on dependable systems, and above all, the many people who spend their days in the environments we protect.
Maintaining the right balance between digital innovation, business evolution and social responsibility is no easy task. It requires strategic vision, ongoing investment and, just as importantly, the ability to pause and reflect in order to avoid chasing every new trend simply because it’s “cutting-edge.” In our field, there’s often no second chance. That’s why we’ll keep innovating, but always with careful consideration, as our company philosophy has reminded us for more than forty years.