Data Valley, from Bologna to Dubai | Vienna
Data, calculation ability And analyses I’m there source more precious than future. L’Emilia Romagna is ready to be thecenter Italian and European of supercomputing. The Technopole of Bologna with installation before ECMWF computer, now of computer leonardo of the CINECA, with incredible parallel computing capabilities, and the new machine ofNational Institute of Nuclear Physics is a candidate to win the new global challenges created by climate change, carving out a decisive role in anddata analysis. L’Emilia Romagna submit announcement Expo 2020 Dubai his Data Valley which, becoming an asset of primary importance forEurope, places it at the forefront of international competition in a strategic context for future developments on which great world powers are already committed
“Europe competes with China and the United States and we are a very relevant part of this European competition” emphasizes Francesco Ubertini, President of the Big Data Foundation (Ifab). “A seed has been sown: the Bologna Technopole – Antonio Zoccoli, President of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Infn) tells me – Thanks to a far-sighted vision of the administration that has decided to invest in data, ahead of the times . But when you create an infrastructure, you naturally create an ecosystem around it and this attracts interest from academia and industry. The next step is to insert this Technopole in a national infrastructure. And that’s what we’re doing now with the Recovery Plan funds ”.
Ubertini echoes him: “In terms of computing infrastructure, supercomputing facility, today the Bologna Technopole is already among the first centers in the world. Now with this action of national infrastructure, where the Technopole aggregates the scientific communities, the groups of excellence that carry out research in this context and in all the ambitious Italian themes, and all the largest Italian companies, we reach a critical mass that becomes visible to global level not only in terms of infrastructure but also of skills “. Let’s find out more about the Bologna Technopole, the importance of Big Data and the future prospects for collaboration between Italy and the Emirates that emerged on the occasion of the Regional Day dedicated to Emilia Romagna at the Italian Pavilion of Expo 2020.
A national supercomputing network
The creation of a hub that generates data, knowing how to study them and then extrapolate value from those data places Emilia Romagna and our country in the spotlight. “We are preparing a proposal that we will submit in mid-February in which we create a national infrastructure, of which the Technopole will be the hub, but inserted in a fabric, a national supercomputing network – says Antonio Zoccoli, President of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Infn) – There will be many satellite centers and a super-fast data transmission network that intersects with Europe ”.
Being at the center of this supercomputing network places the Technopole at the center of attention in an international sector that is increasingly decisive for contemporary society, embracing areas such as sustainability, medical-scientific research, industry, energy, agritech. “Once we have done this, it will naturally be the attraction of all Italian universities and research institutions, of all Italian companies but also of international collaborations with various partners -Relancia Zoccoli- Obviously the main partner is Europe, but there are collaborations with the United States on aspects of quantum computing. We also have a collaboration with the New York University of Abu Dhabi always on quantum computing, because there are different realities in the world that are investing in this emerging technology, which could be the future of computing “.
The data, the new black gold
If in the last century it was oil that dominated the world economy, it will no longer be so in the future, Zoccoli explains to me: “” The idea that Europe is developing is to build a computing infrastructure, build an ecosystem, finance it, to be competitive. Those who are able to handle data in the next few years will have an advantage not only in research but also in the economy. This is Europe’s investment and what we are aligning ourselves with, and in which we are trying to keep Italy one step ahead of many other nations ”. In this completely different scenario in which the ability to calculate and analyze data will lead to better respond to future challenges and to overcome them, Italy has a very precious resource. “Data is becoming more than we have a raw material – Antonio Zoccoli tells me – Now that we produce data, we are one of the nations that produce data and we can use them. Therefore, whoever will be able to analyze the data in the next few years will also win the economic challenge “. The importance and impact that computing has in our lives is clear, and Zoccoli relaunches: “Whoever has this ability, not only the infrastructures but also the people capable of analyzing data and extracting its value, will win in the future. . So we must not only invest in infrastructure, but also in the young people who are capable of doing this work. We have to win this challenge ”.
Infrastructure and human capital
The importance of infrastructures is associated with that of people capable of reading, studying and understanding the information contained in those precious data in a value. Those who are challenged will be able to analyze all the amount of data produced and use that information. To do this you need trained personnel who know how to read and process such data. “We also want to strengthen the education ecosystem with this candidacy we made to host a headquarters of the United Nations University. Italy is visible today in this field, at the forefront at an international level ”explains Francesco Ubertini, President of the Big data Foundation (Ifab). It was the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Stefano Bonaccini, who strengthened the project linked to the birth of a United Nations University at the Bologna Technopole dedicated to human development in the digital society, to strengthen the international positioning of Emilia-Romagna on the side of the digital transition.
“Very recently, Europe has launched a visionary project: it is called Destination Earth -releases Ubertini- The goal is to have an integral digital replica of the Earth by 2030. The reproduction of the physical phenomena of the entire simulated globe, of a so-called digital twin but on a very large scale. This project is a very important tool to be able to support decisions with a view to climate change. Really visionary things are being done and for that digital twin the computing power will be and developed provided by Bologna “.
Two projects of international importance
The Emilia Romagna Region is working on a proposal, which has already found the interest of UNESCO, to create the headquarters of the United Nations University dedicated to human development in the digital society at the Bologna Technopole. A project that has already been presented to the Government and on which work is already underway. The other project is the one related to the possible collaboration between the Big Data Foundation and the Dubai Future Foundation announced by Bonaccini, launched during the meetings held in December with Khalfan Belhoul, CEO Dubai Future Foundation, and Ahmed Al Falasi, CEO Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism. A collaboration that could bear fruit with joint work on issues such as climate change, life sciences, big data and Artificial Intelligence, with an impact on the life and organization of cities and urban spaces from a sustainable perspective.
The Emilia Romagna Region “has many typical features and successful paths in the field of innovation. We are at the Expo to look for relationships and build the future on a new typicality, that of data ”declared Paola Salomoni, Councilor for School, University, Research, Digital Agenda of the Emilia-Romagna Region.