Health safety has become a shared priority for institutions, companies, and mobility operators worldwide. Since the pandemic, attention to air quality and the healthiness of shared environments has grown exponentially. Nevertheless, while the automotive industry has been investing heavily in autonomous driving, connectivity, artificial intelligence, and electrification, vehicle hygiene—an essential element for ensuring truly safe mobility—has remained a marginal concern. Buses, ambulances, logistics fleets, rental vehicles, and shared mobility vehicles continue to represent complex, enclosed ecosystems characterized by extremely high turnover of people and goods.
In these environments, viruses, bacteria, and pathogens can persist in the air and on surfaces for many hours, while the sanitation solutions still commonly in use today are mostly manual, slow, costly, and difficult to standardize. It is from this critical gap that VDS – Vehicle Disinfection System was born: a technology developed by the Italian startup Ofiuco M19, founded by Davide Benedetto Bellitteri, with the goal of transforming vehicle hygiene into a native, automated, and fully integrated feature of the vehicles of the future.
An Advanced, Certified Sanitation Technology Ready for Global Scalability
VDS is not an accessory, but an intelligent system designed to operate autonomously and safely, following an industrial protocol that can be replicated on a global scale. Its effectiveness derives from the coordinated integration of UV light, ozonation, and controlled nebulization. UV light immediately neutralizes viruses and bacteria on surfaces; ozonation acts deeply within the air and hard-to-reach spaces; controlled nebulization ensures the uniform distribution of certified and traceable disinfectants. Everything is managed by an intelligent control unit equipped with safety sensors that continuously monitor the environment, prevent hazardous situations, and allow remote or app-based management. With a single command, VDS decontaminates, disinfects, and deodorizes the entire cabin, saturating both air and surfaces to levels unattainable through manual interventions. The technology is protected by patent, safeguarding its uniqueness.
The first prototype of the solution was developed and engineered in Turin, obtaining certifications from accredited bodies and meeting high biomedical standards. Independent scientific tests have demonstrated effectiveness exceeding 90% in reducing microbial load, with traceable and repeatable results in high-risk healthcare environments. The project’s credibility is further strengthened by a protocol signed with the Italian Biologists Foundation, which supports the dissemination of the technology through scientific validation and guidelines shared with the healthcare sector. Moreover, VDS fully complies with health regulations and European directives on safety and technological devices, making it immediately scalable to international markets and ready for inclusion in future mobility specifications.
A Network of Experts Bringing Vehicle Sanitation to the Highest International Standards
Leading the project is an international team composed of scientists, engineers, managers, and consultants from strategic sectors including automotive, defense, healthcare, research, law, and institutional policy. Contributors include biologist and naturalist Franco Andaloro; Marco Loglio, Vice President of Lojo EV; Emin Gültekin Fisek, senior consultant with experience in defense acquisition strategies; Domenico Bondi, Managing Director UK & Ireland at Volvo Buses; Vita Fabiola Martinico, senior biologist and board member of the Italian Biologists Foundation; biomedical engineering expert Aldo Malaspina; Barbara Vergnano, CEO and export manager at Dualtrend; corporate lawyer Francesco Ilari; and Salvatore Valenzise, President of the Kiwanis Club Capo d’Orlando. This articulated ecosystem of expertise enables VDS to position itself as a strategic infrastructure for the systemic sanitation of the global vehicle fleet.
The initiative has already received patronage from the Sicilian Regional Government, the Municipality of Marsala, and the Trapani Chamber of Commerce, recognizing its value for mobility, public health, and national industry. VDS has also been selected among the 25 excellence startups at Seafuture La Spezia and presented at IAA Transportation in Hannover, one of the most important international events dedicated to mobility and collective transport technologies.
Institutional Recognition Paving the Way for Adoption in International Transport and Logistics
The institutional and international validation pathway of VDS technology has recently been enriched by further prestigious recognitions. The company’s sole director was invited to the FAO headquarters in Rome for the 48th edition of The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries 2025. This participation confirmed interest in the VDS system as a strategic safeguard for hygienic safety within the food logistics supply chain and maritime transport in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.
At the national level, the system’s potential was the subject of a dedicated technical roundtable at the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) in Rome. Acknowledging the innovative value of the VDS (Vehicle Disinfection System) for public transport safety—both road and rail—the Ministry confirmed institutional interest and scheduled a follow-up meeting by January 2026.
A Solution Designed to Become the New Hygiene Standard for the Mobility of the Future
The technology finds immediate application in highly complex strategic contexts: public transport, including buses, subways, and high-density passenger trains; healthcare, particularly ambulances and medical vehicles; logistics and delivery fleets in constant motion; airports and ports with extremely high turnover of people and goods; defense and civil protection vehicles operating in critical scenarios; and mobile toilet units and containers, which are often difficult to sanitize quickly and safely. By nature, the system is scalable, automatable, integrable, and cross-sector.
With VDS, Ofiuco M19 Srl offers not merely a response to a contingent need, but a new industrial infrastructure for the mobility of the future—based on native, traceable, automated, and guaranteed hygiene. An innovation born in Italy, yet designed to become a new European and global standard, at a time when safety and sustainability are redefining the parameters of public and private mobility.
In an era of autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, and smart batteries, VDS brings attention back to a fundamental principle: there is no smart mobility without health safety.
Source: https://forbes.it/2025/12/11/startup-che-vuole-riscrivere-standard-igiene-mobilita