At the meeting held on 30 May, the new Board of Directors of GARR, appointed by the Assembly of Members, officially took office. Professor Maurizio Tira was unanimously re-elected as President for the 2025–2028 term, thus confirming his role.

A civil and environmental engineer, Professor Tira is Full Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the University of Brescia, where he served as Rector from 2016 to 2022. He is currently President of the UNIBS Foundation, a member of the Board of the European University Association, and sits on the Board of Directors of the National Centre for High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing, appointed by the Minister for Universities and Research.

Dr Massimo Bernaschi from CNR was unanimously elected as Vice-President.

New members of the GARR Board of Directors include Marco Dell’Isola, Rector of the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio; Gerardo Canfora, Rector of the University of Sannio; Giovanni Ponti, Head of the ICT Systems Development Division at ENEA; and Francesco Antonio Ponticelli, a data protection and artificial intelligence expert, appointed by the Ministry for Universities and Research. Returning members include Massimo Bernaschi for CNR and Marco Ciuchini for INFN.

The confirmation of Maurizio Tira as President reflects the excellent work carried out during the previous term and the commitment to continue advancing innovation in the field of research networks.

“It is an honour for me to continue serving the education and research community in addressing the technological challenges that lie ahead” said President Tira. “Over the years, GARR has shown its ability to build networks not only in terms of infrastructure, but also by fostering connections between people and disciplines. Our challenge now is to promote and align research and development activities within the community that rely on terrestrial and submarine fibre as a sensor, along with essential systems such as storage and computing. Our goal is to pursue solutions that ensure independence from major players driven by market logic rather than the common good. Key focus areas will include data availability and sharing, security, and skills development.”

Among GARR’s strategic areas of activity is the use of fibre links—both national and cross-border—as extended “sensors” for earthquake detection, environmental monitoring and infrastructure surveillance. In addition, support will be provided for the development of advanced scientific technologies and applications such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Quantum Computing, and ultra-precise time/frequency (T/F) transfer.

The GARR management and entire staff extend a warm welcome and best wishes to the new Board of Directors.

Biography of Maurizio Tira

Maurizio Tira was first elected President of Consortium GARR in 2022. He graduated with honours in Civil Engineering for Land Protection and Spatial Planning and is Full Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the University of Brescia, where he served as Rector from 2016 to 2022. He currently teaches Urban Planning and Risk Mitigation and Ethics of Environmental Sustainability in the Master's degree programme in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

He is a member of the PhD Board in Civil, Environmental, International Cooperation and Mathematics Engineering, and of the National PhD Programme in Sustainable Development and Climate Change. He is Past-President of the Italian Society of Urban Planners (SIU) and of the National Centre for Urban Studies at the Italian Council of Engineers (CNI). He is also a member of the Presidential Council of the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts of Brescia and a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna.

He currently serves as President of the UNIBS Foundation, is a board member of the European University Association, and sits on the Board of Directors of the National Centre for High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing, appointed by the Minister for Universities and Research. He is an expert member of the European Transport Safety Council and of the Transport Research Committee of the OECD’s International Transport Forum, as well as an expert for DG MOVE – the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport – on urban mobility.

He has coordinated and participated in numerous European projects on urban planning, sustainable mobility and planning in high-risk areas, and has authored more than 270 publications. Since December 2020, he has held the title of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.