EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel visit the Bologna Technopole

In the afternoon of today, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel will be present at a press conference with the Minister of the University and of Research Maria Cristina Messa and the Minister of Education, Patrizio Bianchi.

During the visit, the Commissioner will be accompanied by the president of Cineca, Francesco Ubertini, and by the president of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Antonio Zoccoli, to the site where the Leonardo supercomputer is being built.

During the press conference, the Commissioner said:

I believe that Bologna is sending a very strong signal in the technology and advancement sector: when we work together we arrive at a tangible result, of great strength. Many times it is said that there is a lack of leadership in the field of science, but not. Bologna makes us understand that there is leadership in the science sector and creates results that are useful for the entire population, for all our production sectors, even for small and medium-sized enterprises. What I saw today throughout the visit is a very positive message

In Europe there is no lack of leadership in the science sector. Bologna shows that there is leadership and this is a very positive message. Thanks to this leadership and precise political choices, results like this can be achieved.

About Leonardo Gabriel added:

As Europe we must be competitive, there is a discourse of European leadership that places us as promoters of an innovation that can be competitive from all points of view. However, we must remember that for  maintaining this type of competitiveness must create synergies. There are five machines of this type in Europe, I hope that a synergy will be created between these machines.

Minister Patrizio Bianchi said about the Techopole:

We arrived here after a long journey that we have carried out over the years, in which we have simply collected a tradition that was extraordinary which was that of Cineca and Infn. 

We have picked up this tradition and this extraordinary challenge that was proposed to us, we have rediscovered this place – the old Tobacco Factory – which becomes the central point of the European Big Data system. […] 

It is a network, a network that will then develop, as Professor Zoccoli said, towards the quantum computing. This means that Italy and Europe put themselves at the head of innovation processes worldwide.

Minister Maria Cristina Messa described the main drivers of the project:

 The Bologna hub was conceived, developed and built along three lines in particular. First of all, it started from the analysis of the research and development forces of the Emilia -Romagna Region, which has concentrated many efforts here.

Second, starting from these forces an inclusive network of all the realities that could have a role in this area was created.

The third strong point was that of having designed and built this Hub together to Europe. For this we must thank Minister Bianchi, who was the real proponent of the project.

About Cineca, Minister Messa added:

Cineca’s role in the management of this huge EU project is fundamental both for development and research and for the service that will be given to all the community of innovators .

On this occasion, the Commissioner will also visit the Data Center of the The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). This is the first infrastructure installed in the Technopole area following the transfer from Reading (England). Accompanying the visit was the director general of the ECMWF, Florence Rabier.