Digital territorial assets: vocational drivers’ representation for Finiq Municipality's challenge of change

This research paper provides a base for the development of an integrated strategy to identify and represent the existing territorial systems and ongoing trends in the municipality of Finiq, located in southern Albania. The study explores the features of the territorial ecosystem, to propose an integrated innovative development process through the digitization of the assets. The analysis moves from three main driver topics - “Landscape”, “Tradition” and “Tourism”, showing that the Municipality of Finiq has an underestimated intrinsic value of attractiveness, characterized by its inland natural areas and rich cultural heritage. Starting from these condi- tions, the innovation of the territorial system through the involvement of the communities of the Municipality of Finiq is one of the main development and enhancement drivers. Based on a holistic approach to setting up and representing land, cultural, environmental, artistic, agro- alimentary, and local gastronomic assets, this research paper aims to propose the improvement of the attractiveness of the Finiq Municipality's, according to advanced international methodological standards, and the resulting territorial and social impact (Rossi, 2022). It is proposed to implement innovation in the gainful process in the Finiq Municipality by the digitalization of assets through the international BIM standard (Bianchini et al., 2021), creat- ing three-dimensional information models at different levels: individual assets, infrastructures, historical sites (Maietti et al., 2021), and relevant buildings. The three-dimensional model can be implemented in a unified data-sharing environment, allowing for the creation of a digital ecosystem (Banfi et al., 2022) through which different stakeholders and communities can cooperate in processes and exchange information. The ecosystem will create a Digital Twin of the assets (Wu et al., 2021) integrated into a territorial map. A digital model through which, the actors involved, with the support of enabling technologies, will be able to add information to the BIM model in real time, creating a cognitive three-dimensional decision-support model (EcoAlbania, 2021) to re-orient the current shrinking, isolation, and identity trends.