Unipd’s New Cyber Security Laboratory
18.11.2020
The agreement signed between CIPI and Gruppo SIGLA addresses various aspects of Cyber-Security research including; applications and problems in Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT), the Internet of Things (IoT), the consent to replicate, modify and share digital data, Blockchain, impacts on Software Engineering, and Smart Cities.
As part of The Interuniversity Research Center for Computer Platform Engineering (CIPI), The University of Padua along with the University of Genoa and the University of Sassari have signed an agreement with Gruppo SIGLA for the creation of a joint laboratory focusing on cyber-security, with Professor Mauro Migliardi from the University of Padua as Scientific Director.
In the past few years, cyber-security issues have taken on an increasingly important role covering an entire panorama of research, industry and its impact on today’s society. The joint laboratory aims to address various aspects related to the world of cyber-security, from applications and problems facing IT and OT fields, to the Internet of Things, to Distributed Ledger and Blockchain, to the impacts on Software Engineering and the challenges of developing Smart Cities.
"The aspect of scientific excellence must never lead to a divergence in the vision of an engineering school and its application of acquired knowledge. This perspective includes the importance of a long-term partnership, in which the industrial side aspires to explore leading issues, while the academic side can profitably draw on real use cases to ‘ground’ the most visionary of ideas. This is the outmost of strategic importance,” says Mauro Migliardi. An example of this synergy can be found in the security issues of the supply chain for information systems. This year’s pandemic has shown the inherent fragility of an interdependent production system, such as the closure of large South Korean companies due to the production lockdown in China. Migliardi continues, “It is quite obvious that the solution cannot be to stop Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing, on the other hand, the sudden replacement of any component changes the safety levels of a system. The recent collaboration, merged into a joint laboratory, aims at obtaining a quick but reliable analysis of the security levels of information systems in the face of the replacement of one or more components.”
Located between CIPI offices in Genoa as well as in Padua, the creation of this laboratory aims to carry out further research activities and to follow best practices in the processing of technology transfer. Goals include the sharing of knowledge aimed at enriching both parties due to a constant dialogue between its members, which include technicians, researchers, students, and managers. In addition to formalizing a ten-year collaboration with Gruppo SIGLA, the collaboration proposes to participate in funded innovative projects and to encourage the creation of spin-offs and start-ups in promoting a sense of entrepreneurship for young graduates and PhD students.
