Tech and Products
We build technology for industries in transition
We design software, platforms, AI and data tools, and service prototypes for sectors that need to become more connected, transparent, and adaptive. Our work also includes technology built in the public interest, where the value created is social and not only commercial: tools for health, care, wellbeing, the environment, and civic life, designed with the people they are meant to serve. We turn real operational needs into prototypes, pilots, workflows, and reusable digital infrastructure that can be tested in context and adopted over time.
The Challenge
Industries in transition do not only need more technology, but tech that fits how they actually work and, when it is built for people's lives, how they actually live.
The problem is rarely just the absence of an app or a platform, but fragmentation: scattered data, manual workflows, tacit knowledge, weak coordination, limited digital adoption, and prototypes that never become usable products. The same gap appears wherever technology is meant to serve people directly: tools that arrive late, ignore real routines, or treat the people who use them as passive recipients rather than active participants. Through our product and engineering team and Aurora as a living lab, we help move from problem to prototype, from prototype to pilot, and from pilot to reusable digital infrastructure, tested with the people and organizations who will actually use it.
VLK Goal
Our goal is to build useful digital products and shared infrastructure for industries and communities that need to coordinate, adapt, and create new value.
By 2030, we aim to show a portfolio of products, pilots, and reusable assets born from real needs in Sardinia and other places in transition: tools that help fragmented actors coordinate, make better decisions, reduce friction, and improve services, including technology built in the public interest, where the benefit is social and the market alone would not deliver it.
Focus Areas
- 01
Places & Local Economies
Territories often have strong assets but weak coordination: cultural sites, accommodation, food, events, routes, local stories, and services exist, but they do not always work together as a coherent system. This limits visibility, quality of experience, and the ability of many small actors to collaborate.
Some of the things we do:
- Place-based platforms and tools
- Digital maps, libraries, and cultural digital experiences
- Management and operations tools
- Service blueprints for place-based initiatives and experiences
- 02
Creative Tech & Gaming
Creative talent needs structure: from idea to prototype, from prototype to portfolio, from portfolio to market, studio, institution, or licensable IP. Without this infrastructure, creative energy often remains trapped in isolated initiatives.
Some of the things we do:
- Game jams, creative-tech labs, and prototyping formats
- Interactive prototypes for culture, education, tourism, and storytelling
- Tools and workflows for creators, educators, cultural institutions, and studios
- Game design
- 03
Circularity & Digital Manufacture
Circularity and digital manufacture require systems that make assets visible: what exists, where it is, who uses it, when it needs repair, how it can be reused, and what impact is generated. Without tools, roles, and routines, circular practices remain difficult to coordinate and measure.
Some of the things we do:
- Asset registries and inventory tools
- Repair, reuse, and maintenance coordination systems
- Maker and micro-fabrication support tools
- Service models connecting schools, municipalities, SMEs, and communities
- Documentation systems for circular projects and public assets
- 04
Public Interest Technology
Not every technology that matters has a market behind it. Some of the most important problems in health, care, ageing, wellbeing, and the environment, are underserved precisely because the benefit is collective and the incentive to build is weak. Public interest technology starts from a different question: not only "is this good?" but "good for whom?". We research, design, and test technology whose purpose is public value, built with the people and communities it is meant to serve and with attention to who might otherwise be left out. Aurora works as a living lab where these tools are prototyped and validated in real contexts, with real users, before they scale. Our work on active ageing, technology that helps older people stay autonomous, connected, and included, is one example of this approach.
Some of the things we do:
- Research and co-design with communities, public services, and the people directly affected
- Prototypes and pilots for digital inclusion, autonomy, and everyday wellbeing
- Accessible interfaces designed for different abilities and levels of digital confidence
- Data and tools that support health, care, environmental, and civic decisions
- Field testing and validation of public-interest tools through Aurora
- Reusable methods, evidence, and design guidelines that other public-interest projects can build on
HOW TO WORK WITH US
Bring us a concrete problem
Use a focused discovery sprint to clarify the problem, users, workflows, constraints, data, risks, and product opportunity before building
Work with VLK to turn a defined need into a working prototype, MVP, dashboard, platform, AI workflow, or digital service
Use Aurora as a living-lab environment for workshops, demos, field testing, feedback sessions, training, and validation with real users, stakeholders, learners, and community members.
For consortia, institutions, sector networks, foundations, or public-private partnerships, we can co-develop tools that serve more than one organization
