Three days of discussions on connectivity, AI, cybersecurity and scientific computing. Around 270 participants and 66 speakers from different disciplinary fields, nearly 800 daily views during the live stream.

These are the main figures of the GARR 2025 Conference which, from 13 to 15 May, brought together experts from academia, science and technology from all over Italy in the Aldo Moro Hall of the Department of Law at the University of Bari.

The title of this year’s edition, “Digital frontiers – Shared and independent infrastructures for the future of research,” served as the common thread throughout the sessions, roundtables and talks that animated the conference. As is customary, the event was preceded by a training day dedicated to the GARR community.

The conference was opened by the Rector of the University of Bari, Stefano Bronzini, the GARR President, Maurizio Tira, and the GARR Director, Claudia Battista.
“Today we are facing two crucial challenges,” said Maurizio Tira, GARR President, “on the one hand, overcoming the digital divide, which risks exacerbating global inequalities; on the other, the need to combine technological independence with knowledge sharing. Digital autonomy is an essential condition for sustainable and secure development, but it cannot exist without cooperation and the exchange of expertise.”

Tuesday 13 May
The opening day kicked off with the panel “Evolution of telecommunication systems and infrastructures in the country,” moderated by Cristoforo Morandini (TMT-PTS), featuring key figures in the sector: Maurizio Goretti (Namex), Luigi Cudia (Infratel), Salvatore Lombardo (FibreConnect), Fabio Paolo Panunzi Capuano (Sparkle), Massimo Carboni (GARR) and Katia Lazzarini (Open Fiber).
The panel provided an overview of the state and future of Italy’s digital infrastructure, from optical fibre and 5G to data centres and next-generation backbones. Representatives from both public and private sectors discussed the challenges posed by the digital divide, the importance of resilient and independent networks, and development opportunities for citizens, businesses, and research.
Legal expert Innocenzo Genna concluded the morning with a talk on the prospects of EU regulation in the telecommunications sector, highlighting the EU's renewed active role and ongoing discussions around market consolidation.
In the afternoon, the roundtable “Shared and independent infrastructures for universities and research,” moderated by journalist Francesca Franceschi, brought together Roberto Ragazzoni (President of INAF), Marco Dell’Isola (Rector of the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, representing CRUI), Maurizio Tira (GARR), Domenico Elia (INFN), Massimo Bernaschi (CNR), and Lucio Badiali (INGV).
The panel explored the strategic role of digital infrastructures in research, underlining the importance of technological independence and resource sharing. The speakers discussed increased computing capacity, digital fragility, training in digital skills and STEM culture, with a particular focus on responsible AI use and the sustainability of technological models. They stressed the need for transparent infrastructures that support the growth of the scientific community, with strong governance, security, and long-term strategic vision.

Wednesday 14 May
The second day began with the session “At the frontier of research infrastructures,” dedicated to innovative technological solutions for science. The opening talk, broadcast live from the Concordia Antarctic station by Erik Geletti (OGS), with Alessandro Mancini (CNR) joining from the conference room, described the evolution of satellite connectivity in one of the most remote and inhospitable places on Earth. Thanks to the adoption of the Starlink network, the Italian-French co-managed base has taken a qualitative leap in transmitting scientific data, opening new possibilities for real-time research despite extreme conditions and engineering challenges. The connection with the GARR network enables integration with Italian research nodes, turning connectivity into a strategic tool for science.
Next, Cecilia Clivati (INRIM) presented the potential of the European project SENSEI, which uses fibre optic networks not only for data transmission but also as distributed sensors to detect vibrations, sounds, and environmental changes. GARR is among the project partners, aiming to create a continuous, high-precision monitoring system useful in areas such as geophysics, oceans, climate and smart cities.
The session concluded with a series of lightning talks exploring advanced applications of digital infrastructures for research. Pietro Cassarà (CNR) and Aldo Artigiani (Huawei) presented AI technologies and tools supporting Intent-Based Networking. Damiano Archetti (IRCCS Fatebenefratelli – Brescia) showcased collaborative web platforms for researchers and clinicians in neuroscience, such as neuGRID and NewPsy4u. Claudio Lo Giudice (CNR) introduced BioRepository@ELIXIR-IT, an infrastructure for managing and sharing human genetic data. Finally, Barbara Caccia (ISS) outlined the first steps towards building an Italian infrastructure for virtual imaging trials in medical physics.
The final session of the morning, “Artificial Intelligence for universities and research,” offered reflections on the challenges and opportunities of using AI in academia and science. Roberta Calegari (University of Bologna) presented the various AI models currently used in research, warning of the risks of bias and discrimination in intelligent systems and the urgent need for literacy and regulation. Donato Malerba (University of Bari) called for a symbiotic approach to AI, promoting human-machine interaction as a new paradigm, citing experiences from the PNRR FAIR project on AI. Filippo Lanubile (University of Bari) introduced MLOps, a framework for the sustainable development and use of machine learning models.
The session ended with three lightning talks: Simona Cafieri (ISTAT) presented a voice assistant for exploring population statistics; Floriana Vindigni (University of Turin) spoke about the use of AI in medical training; Daniele Di Bella (CNR and Telethon Foundation) illustrated ARGOS, an augmented generation system for scientific communication.
The afternoon began with two talks on cybersecurity. Corrado Giustozzi (Rexilience) described the evolution of cybercrime, with increasingly sophisticated attacks particularly targeting healthcare and manufacturing. He stressed the rise in threats in Italy and the importance of both incident response preparation and prevention. Alessandro Armando (University of Genoa) presented the national SERICS project on cybersecurity, which includes 10 thematic areas and has led to the creation of a Cybersecurity Academy offering free courses for students and researchers.
Subsequent lightning talks presented innovative solutions and experiences in cybersecurity: from protecting healthcare infrastructures (Francesco Ricciardi, Fondazione IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza), to new cryptographic models based on FPGA (Polo Panazzari, ENEA), to open source tools for algorithm transparency (Ivan Duca, CNR). Federico Cucinella and Andrea Garzena (Politecnico di Torino) concluded with the use of MFA and passkeys for secure migration to Shibboleth IdP.
The next session featured the three Digital Education Hubs funded by the Ministry of University and Research: EduNext (Tommaso Minerva, UNIMORE), EDvance (Gianni Fenu, University of Cagliari) and ALMA (Silvia Parlato, University of Naples Federico II). The discussion focused on the challenge of integrating universities and AFAM institutions, and building shared learning paths with common standards and a scalable technological architecture.
Interoperability between authentication systems (SPID, CIE, eIDAS, eduGAIN, eduID) is also crucial to ensure access and mobility across platforms, as illustrated by Fabrizio Pedranzini (Politecnico di Milano) and Mario Di Lorenzo (GARR). Students can now attend courses outside their home institution and obtain competency certifications via Open Badge. The three Digital Education Hubs also participate in the national Observatory on microcredentials, which fosters synergies among projects to promote shared certifications.
The final session focused on digital rights and identity. Nadina Foggetti (CNR IBIOM) opened with a talk on the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and data governance, highlighting the opportunities offered by the secure sharing of health data across Europe. She explained how the Data Governance Act and EHDS aim to balance digital sovereignty, free data flow and privacy protection, introducing principles such as digital altruism and the right to opt-out. She also stressed the need for harmonised legal frameworks across Member States and shared technical tools to ensure the responsible use of data, including for research purposes.
Three lightning talks followed, delving into related topics: Massimo Farina (University of Cagliari) discussed the risks of unregulated AI use and copyright implications; Simona Spirito and Doriana Frattarola (ISTAT) presented SIGMA, an innovative project for statistical data processing.

Thursday 15 May
The final day of the conference opened with a session dedicated to the evolution of scientific computing, encompassing supercomputing, distributed computing, and new architectures. Chiara Scaini (OGS) illustrated how the institute’s seismological infrastructure, integrated into projects such as Terabit, enables rapid simulations and complex scenarios for emergency management, also involving citizens through a citizen science approach. Ernesto Picardi (University of Bari) addressed the computational challenges of gene therapy and RNA-based drugs, highlighting the key role of biocomputing and infrastructures such as Elixir. These platforms allow for the processing of big data generated by sequencing technologies and through complex pipelines, enhancing omics sciences for the development of innovative and personalised therapies.

To conclude the session, a series of lightning talks showcased innovative applications in digital infrastructures. Matteo Billè (Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste) presented the architecture of the scientific data lake Data@Elettra. Giuseppe Zangari (ArubaKube) shared a case of federation of autonomous Kubernetes clusters. Marco Faltelli (ENEA) introduced CLIC (Cloud In Cresco) for HPC/HPDA-as-a-Service. Giacomo Nodjoumi (ASI-SSDC) concluded with JupyterHub Europlanet GMAP, focused on the development of an open-source infrastructure for processing aerospace data using Docker.

The final session of the conference addressed the delicate balance between data openness and protection. Arianna Traviglia (IIT) presented the activities of the Centre for Cultural Heritage Technology, which she directs at the Italian Institute of Technology, showing how advanced technologies – from HPC to artificial intelligence – are transforming the management and enhancement of digital cultural data. Matteo Chiara (University of Milan) illustrated the European project Genome Data Infrastructure (GDI), which aims to build an infrastructure for precision medicine, while ensuring security, interoperability, and the protection of individual rights.

Following this, lightning talks offered concrete examples of data use in various fields: Paolo Uva (IRCCS Gaslini) presented a FAIR data database for research assessment; Alexia Cociancich (OGS) demonstrated an oceanographic application with near real-time FAIR data; Simona Caraceni (Cineca) discussed the creation of AI datasets from digitised historical newspapers; and finally, Domenico Nilo Mazza (IZS Lombardia e Emilia Romagna) described the WOAH Virtual Biobank for the secure sharing of biological material.

The presentations from the conference sessions are available on the event website.

Go to the conference website

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