The Minister of University and Research Manfredi, today inaugurated the start of the works on the second lot of the Bologna Technopole, in the presence of the local authorities and the top management of Cineca: the president Eugenio di Sciascio, the general manager David Vannozzi, the director of the supercomputing department Sanzio Bassini.
In fact, the works for the preparation of the 25 thousand square meters that will house the offices of Enea, the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute, Art-Er, the Bi-Rex Competence Center and the spaces for new start-ups have begun. Preparation works for the CINECA and INFN datacenter for Leonardo, the new European supercomputer, will begin in November, while the actual interventions will begin in January.
The Technopole will also be the headquarters of the Datacenter of the ECMWF European Weather Center, whose works are nearing completion, and therefore it will be the first body to start activities, and of the Italian Weather National Agency.
The event was attended by the president of the Region, Stefano Bonaccini, and the Minister for University and Research, Gaetano Manfredi, the rector of the University of Bologna, Francesco Ubertini, the regional councilors for economic development, Vincenzo Colla, and all ‘University and Research, Paola Salomoni, the councilor for productive activities of the Municipality of Bologna Marco Lombardo with the representatives of the entities that will settle in the Technopole, of the company carrying out the works and of the design studio. The Region is then committed to the Government to present the Technopole’s candidacy for the European Copernicus Project, with the possibility of having these research activities in Emilia-Romagna as well.
Minister Manfredi commented:
The Bologna technopole will be projected into an international dimension and will be able to guarantee technological sovereignty to Italy and Europe. Investing in research and development, central themes of the country’s political agenda, means giving Italy a leading role in the world.
The entire ecosystem of Italian research is widely represented in Bologna, where there are sections of the most important Italian research institutions. Together with excellences such as Alma Mater University of Bologna, and CINECA, this ecosystem has been able to attract avant-garde realities of international level.
The datacenter of the European weather center ECMWF and the European supercomputer Leonardo, in fact, are the international recognition of the value of Italian research. A result obtained thanks to the interaction between different areas of government – regional, national, European -, the synergy of the institutions and research and academic bodies present in the area, and a network of disciplinary skills with a very strong vocation for innovation, in addition to the close collaboration between the public and the private world, well represented throughout Emilia-Romagna and supported with various calls, initiatives and technology transfer projects.
