Pedro Roberto Kanof is an Italian engineer and inventor. He ideated[clarification needed] the first electronic system and method for renting bicycles in the 1980s, the same method that is now used globally in the bicycle sharing system.[1][2][3]

Pedro Kanof

Biography

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Kanof was born in Buenos Aires, in 1944. After having studied Electronics and Computer Science in Buenos Aires and Paris, Pedro Kanof moved to Milan, Italy, in 1972. In 1976 he obtained a doctorate in Electronic Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan, and later on he continued his studying activities at Berkeley.

As an expert in IT, between the 1970s and the 1990s, Pedro Kanof worked in industries such as Alfa Romeo and Mondadori, and financial organizations like The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In the same period of time, he taught in various universities such as Berkeley, The Johns Hopkins University,[4] the George Washington University and the University of Venice Ca' Foscari. In 1991 he edited the book Innovazioni tecnologiche: nuove opportunità per gli anni '90 (Technological Innovation: new opportunities for the '90s), published by Franco Angeli.[5] In 2001 he contributed to the Forum on artistic education and the homonymous publication Arteinformazione. L'identità italiana per l'Europa (Artinformation. Italian Identity for Europe).[6]

In 2007 he founded a company named Kanof Mobility Solutions LLC in Washington DC, which he directed until 2016, and then he kept working on his activities in Milan. The company's mission is to produce and install his latest invention, which consists of a new sustainable transportation system. This system is based on electronically protected parking stations for every type of bicycle, public or private.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] This invention represents a significant step in the evolution of the original automatic and electronic public bike renting system that he invented. On August 13, 2013, the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) granted the patent number 8,508 333 for his new invention.[14]

From 2008 Kanof has been invited to take part to many conferences and international professional congresses on sustainable mobility and urban transport in various cities (among which Dresden,[15] Copenhagen,[16] Milan,[17] Berlin,[18] Rome,[19] Turin[20][21] and Lisbon[22]) and Universities (such as Federico II University in Naples[23] and Universiteit Gent [24]).

References

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  1. ^ Gianni Dragoni, “Tram più bici, idea copiata da Parigi” (Bus and bicycles, idea copied by Paris), Il Sole 24 Ore, October 22, 2007, a. 143, n. 290, p. 1 and p. 20. Gianni Dragoni, “J’ai intenté le Vélib’ et Attali n’en a pas voulu!”, Courrier International, October 31, 2007, n. 887. Thierry Guerrier, "La virée de Sarko au Tchad", Radio Télé Luxembourg, November 05, 2007.
  2. ^ "A Bari Pedro Kanof, l'inventore del bikesharing (In Bari Pedro Kanof, the inventor of bikesharing)", BariLive.it, April 28, 2010.
  3. ^ "Omaggio a Pedro Kanof, l’inventore del ‘bike sharing’ (Tribute to Pedro Kanof, the inventor of bikesharing)”, Associazione Paolo Sylos Labini, September 2, 2014.
  4. ^ Proceedings of the IEEE 2002 International Engineering Management Conference, St. John’s College, Cambridge, UK, August 18–20, 2002
  5. ^ Pedro R. Kanof (edited by), "Innovazioni tecnologiche: Nuove opportunità per gli anni '90" (Franco Angeli, 1991).
  6. ^ Pedro R. Kanof, Le nuove tecnologie informatiche e la produzione di software per l'insegnamento delle arti, in Arteinformazione. L'identità italiana per l'Europa, edited by L. Branchesi, E. Crispolti and M. D. Emiliani, Meridiana Libri-Donzelli Editore, 2001 (Proceedings of the Forum on artistic education, "Arteinformazione. L'identità italiana per l'Europa", Roma, Italy, May 11–12, 2000).
  7. ^ Editorial, “A Clean Energy Transportation System(pdf), Nord American Clean Energy, March 02, 2016.
  8. ^ Alberto Avendaño, “Busca democratizar el transporte” (He work to democratizing transportation), El Tiempo Latino, March 14, 2014.
  9. ^ Antonio Cianciullo and Gianni Silvestrini, La corsa della green economy. Come la rivoluzione verde sta cambiando il mondo (The Ride of the Green Economy. How the Green Revolution Are Changing the World), (Edizioni Ambiente, 2010), p. 183.
  10. ^ Interview to Pedro Kanof on Repubblica TV (English subtitles), June 22, 2010.
  11. ^ Press Regione Puglia, "Minervini incontra Kanof, il padre del bike sharing, per un nuovo progetto Archived 2018-06-15 at the Wayback Machine" (Minervini meets Kanof, the father of bike sharing, for a new project), July 2, 2010.
  12. ^ “Muoversi in cittá”: intervista a Pedro Kanof all’interno del programma Ferry Boat di Radio24 (Moving through the city. Interview to Pedro Kanof on Radio24), July 10, 2010.
  13. ^ Soledad Arréguez Manozzo, “Un plan que llega en dos ruedas” (A plan based on two wheels), Página 12, December 15, 2010.
  14. ^ Google Patents: Automatic parking station system for cycles and bicycles.
  15. ^ MeetBike. European Conference on Bicycle Transport and Networking: Interdependence on Bicycle and Public Transport Use, Dresden, Germany, April 3–4, 2008.
  16. ^ Climate Change. Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions: "Sustainable Urban Transportation", Copenhagen, Denmark, March 10–12, 2009.
  17. ^ MobilityTech 2009. Forum internazionale sull’innovazione tecnologica per lo sviluppo della mobilità e del trasporto pubblico (International forum on technological innovation for the development of mobility and public transport) Milan, Italy, October 5–7, 2009 (Editorial, "Milano: Club delle Città per il Bike Sharing", Greenews, October 6, 2009)
  18. ^ OBIS Workshop Archived 2018-02-16 at the Wayback Machine: "Infrastructure for Increasing Transfer to Cycling: Parameters for Measuring and Design", Berlin, Germany, April 15–16, 2010.
  19. ^ Sviluppo della mobilità ciclabile. Approfondimento delle recenti iniziative assunte a livello nazionale (Cycle mobility development. Deepening of recent initiatives taken at national level), Federmobilità, Rome, Italy, June 17, 2010.
  20. ^ The Cities of Tomorrow Archived 2018-02-16 at the Wayback Machine: the Challenges of Horizons 2020 – COST: “Integral approach for mobility in liveable cities: the role of non-motorized-transportation”, Turin, Italy, September 17–19, 2014.
  21. ^ Bike Pride 2014. La bicicletta muove l'economia Archived 2018-02-23 at the Wayback Machine (Bike Pride 2014. The bicycle moves the economy), Turin, Italy, September 20–21, 2014.
  22. ^ TRANSED Archived 2018-02-16 at the Wayback Machine. The 14th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons: “Proposal for a New Inclusive Transportation System with Clean Energy”, Lisbon, Portugal, July 28–31, 2015.
  23. ^ Seminar at Federico II University in Naples. La sostenibilità urbana: nuovi scenari europei Archived 2018-02-16 at the Wayback Machine (Urban sustainability: new European scenarios): “Il nuovo sistema sostenibile di trasporto: dopo il Bike Sharing” (The new sustainable transport system: after Bike Sharing), Naples, Italy, June 7, 2013 (Photos).
  24. ^ Seminar at Universiteit Gent: “Changing Towards Liveable Cities. A New Sustainable Transportation System For Inundating The Streets With Bicycles Archived 2018-02-16 at the Wayback Machine”, Bruxelles, Belgium, June 10, 2015.