About us
CRPP is an independent platform for applied research, technology development and industrial valorisation, created to turn the Physical Internet paradigm into concrete infrastructures for the sustainable logistics of the future.
Pipe§Net originates from a long Italian scientific trajectory. CRPP works to make it a verifiable, financeable and implementable infrastructure platform.
An independent platform born from research
CRPP is not just a project container. It is a structure designed to give continuity, order and industrial strength to a scientific path developed over time around sustainability, energy, advanced logistics and innovative infrastructure.
Scientific origin
The project is rooted in the expertise developed within the Umbrian university research ecosystem, with particular attention to the University of Perugia, CIRIAF and research groups working on energy, the environment and innovative transport systems.
Operational independence
CRPP operates as an autonomous entity with respect to the scientific, institutional and industrial bodies with which it interacts. This autonomy prevents overlaps of roles and allows clear agreements with public and private partners.
Industrial development
The current phase requires a structure able to participate in funding calls, manage contracts, attract capital, coordinate project vehicles and transform research into pilot projects and scalable infrastructures.
CRPP was created to protect the scientific origin of Pipe§Net and, at the same time, to make its industrial development possible in an autonomous, orderly and transparent way.
The separation between scientific guidance, operational management and economic valorisation is an essential principle of our governance.The role of Prof. Franco Cotana
Prof. Franco Cotana is recognised by CRPP as the original scientific figure, inventor and intellectual reference of the path that led to the development of the Pipe§Net concept and related technologies.
A scientific and historical reference
CRPP recognises Prof. Cotana’s decisive contribution as inventor, scientific promoter and mentor of the project. His role is that of a cultural, scientific and methodological reference, in respect of his professional history, institutional positions and intellectual property rights developed over time.
Autonomous and distinct management
CRPP does not assign Prof. Cotana any current operational management, fundraising, commercial activity, negotiating representation or assumption of commitments toward third parties. The industrial, corporate and financial development of the projects is carried out by CRPP and its dedicated vehicles, on the basis of the existing agreements and exploitation rights.
A dual structure for a dual need
Pipe§Net has a scientific nature and a general-interest mission, but it also requires corporate tools capable of participating in funding calls, signing contracts, attracting capital, developing prototypes and creating project vehicles.
CRPP Association
It is the cultural, scientific and institutional safeguard of the project. It operates on a non-profit basis, promotes the Physical Internet vision, fosters dialogue with universities, research centres, institutions and scientific communities, and preserves the coherence of the general-interest mission.
CRPP S.r.l.
It is the operating corporate vehicle needed to develop industrial projects, participate in calls, manage contracts, coordinate investments, create project companies and interact with public and private partners in a way compatible with market requirements.
Why a corporate vehicle is needed
An infrastructure such as Pipe§Net cannot be developed only through associative or academic activities. It requires contractual responsibilities, economic planning, technical design, investment and risk management.
Access to public funding programmes
Many national and European programmes require operational legal entities, administrative capacity, reporting, co-financing, contractual responsibility and management continuity. CRPP S.r.l. makes it possible to address these requirements with greater solidity.
Public-private partnerships
The most realistic development model for Pipe§Net is based on public-private partnerships: institutions, concessionaires, logistics operators, ports, interports, infrastructure players, industry and finance must be able to interact with a clear operating entity.
Project vehicles and pilot projects
Each territorial or infrastructure project may require a dedicated company, separate governance, specific agreements, targeted investors and autonomous risk management. The S.r.l. enables this architecture.
Protection of intellectual property
The valorisation of patents, know-how, application models and exploitation rights requires orderly, traceable agreements compatible with industrial development. CRPP works to protect the scientific origin and transform it into sustainable projects.
An ecosystem of collaboration
CRPP works to bring together scientific, institutional, industrial and financial expertise around a common objective: making the Physical Internet a real, sustainable and replicable infrastructure platform.
Universities and research
The project maintains privileged dialogue with the university and applied research world, with particular attention to energy, sustainability, transport, automation, materials, digital models and environmental assessment.
Institutions and territories
Pipe§Net is an infrastructure technology: for this reason it requires territorial involvement, public planning, urban compatibility, environmental sustainability and alignment with ecological transition policies.
Industry and finance
The construction of pilot routes and backbones requires industrial partners, logistics operators, infrastructure players, patient investors and economic models based on concessions, PPPs, grants and private capital.
What we develop
CRPP focuses on transforming the Pipe§Net paradigm into concrete, progressive and verifiable projects, avoiding generic announcements and privileging realistic technical, authorisation and financial pathways.
Pipe§Net
A freight and parcel transport system based on automated capsules in dedicated ducts, designed to reduce time, congestion, emissions and inefficiencies in traditional logistics.
Physical Internet
A new logistics model inspired by digital network logic: interoperable nodes, intelligent flows, standardisation, traceability, energy efficiency and supply-chain optimisation.
Pilot projects
Demonstration routes, feasibility studies, technical validation, environmental analyses, economic models and territorial agreements are the basis for making the project bankable and progressively scalable.
Data validation and sustainability
CRPP promotes an approach based on data, measurements, independent checks, environmental impacts, operating costs, traffic scenarios and benefits for territories, companies and public administrations.
Governance principles
CRPP’s credibility depends on the ability to clearly separate scientific vision, operational management, corporate responsibilities and relationships with public or private entities.
Autonomy
CRPP operates with its own governance and does not replace universities, public bodies, investee companies or researchers who contributed to the scientific history of the project.
Transparency
Industrial agreements, exploitation rights, partnerships and any project companies must be built in a clear, documentable way, consistent with the project’s interest.
Prudence
CRPP communicates Pipe§Net’s potential without turning it into a promise: every phase requires technical validation, economic sustainability, authorisations, qualified partners and adequate financial coverage.
Building the future of logistics requires method.
CRPP works to turn an Italian scientific vision into an infrastructure platform capable of attracting research, industry, finance and institutions.