GARR Workshop 2025: three days of networks, artificial intelligence and sustainability
From 3 to 5 November, the research and education community met to discuss the future of digital infrastructures.
Three intense days of discussion, insight and collaboration marked the GARR Workshop 2025, dedicated this year to infrastructures and digital services for research. From 3 to 5 November, around 300 experts from academia, research and ICT came together to share experiences, challenges and visions for the future of Italy’s research network, exploring topics such as supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and sustainability.
3 November – digital infrastructures and services for research
The first day opened with welcome remarks by GARR President Maurizio Tira and Director Claudia Battista, followed by a keynote speech by Massimo Carboni on the evolution of the GARR network infrastructure. In his talk, Carboni emphasised the geostrategic role of the GARR network for Italy within the Mediterranean, serving as a research hub connecting Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
“Thanks to a high-capacity national optical backbone, the network is ready to support the era of quantum computing, distributed AI and HPC infrastructures, ensuring digital sovereignty, high-performance interconnections, technological autonomy, and fostering advanced skills development for the next generations of researchers,” said GARR’s CTO.
The ICT infrastructures session showcased how Italian research is tackling the transition towards increasingly integrated and high-performance environments, thanks to contributions from organisations such as ICSC, INFN and CNR, which presented their projects on HPC, standardisation and the GARR-T network.
In particular, Davide Salomoni presented the ICSC National Centre:
“The GARR network, as part of the ICSC consortium, provides the high-capacity connectivity that enables all the centre’s activities. The public-private model launched with the PNRR will continue beyond 2027, providing HPC and quantum computing in support of market-ready applications, strengthening technological sovereignty and industrial transfer in line with the Draghi report’s vision for revitalising the European economy.”
In the afternoon, the session on network services offered an overview of the technological developments shaping the evolution of the national network: automation, telemetry, artificial intelligence and innovative architectures such as SRv6 and Antares were at the core of the presentations, confirming GARR’s role as a living laboratory of innovation for the research community.
4 November – Resilience, sustainability and security
The second day opened with a reflection on infrastructure resilience and crisis management. From INFN’s business continuity and disaster recovery strategies to best practices in crisis management and communication, the discussion highlighted the importance of a coordinated and informed approach.
The following session on sustainability presented concrete examples of energy optimisation and reduction of environmental impact in university data centres — from the monitoring systems of the Polytechnic University of Turin to the application of artificial intelligence for the autonomous and more efficient management of data centre resources at the University of Bologna.
In the afternoon, the focus shifted to cybersecurity: from Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) to next-generation firewall architectures and operational guidelines on the NIS2 Directive, speakers explored new frontiers in data and network protection. The session also featured experiences from the GARR Security Days, which have engaged the national community in training and awareness-raising activities.
5 November – Digital services and identity
The final day looked ahead to the future of digital services and electronic identities. The morning session focused on collaboration and open-source tools, with case studies on eduVPN, platforms such as Zulip, and inter-institutional cooperation initiatives for developing federated platforms for security incident detection. The theme of digital identity closed the Workshop with a European perspective: multifactor authentication, OpenID Federation and the EUDI Wallet represent the cornerstones of an increasingly interoperable and secure ecosystem — one to which GARR contributes with cutting-edge projects and pilot initiatives.
A positive outcome and a look ahead
In her closing remarks, Claudia Battista emphasised the importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing within the GARR community — key elements enabling the continuous evolution of digital infrastructures and services supporting research.
The Workshop concluded with strong participation and a constructive atmosphere, reaffirming the value of this annual event as a space for dialogue and innovation.
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