\ Alta Tecnologia \ Conclusion of visit by Minister of Research Maria Cristina Messa at Area Science Park

“My overall assessment of the visit to Trieste is extremely positive, because we have here, on one hand, excellent facilities for basic research, fundamental research, which is always the first indispensable opportunity for creating innovation, while on the other, alongside them there is an industrial sector which is very ready, which always performs well and values the innovative aspects of research. I have met with many small, medium and large businesses, all of a high standard, whose quality and concentration are one of the strengths of this region”.

These are the words of Minister of Universities and Research Maria Cristina Messa at the end of her two-day visit to Trieste and Area Science Park, which began yesterday with the renewal until 2023 of the ARGO system agreement signed by the Ministry of Universities and Research, the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Ministry of Economic Development, with Area Science Park acting as coordinator, and her visit to several of the main laboratories within the science park. One of the centres on the itinerary was Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, where the Minister was shown the Elettra 2.0 project, which involves the complete upgrade by 2026 of the storage ring and implementation of a fourth generation light source, 1000 times brighter and 50 times more consistent than the current source.

Today, two other issues were at the centre of the second day of her visit: the “Quantum FVG” project and the fight against Covid-19. These were presented at a meeting with several of the main research centres and universities that are part of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Science and Innovation System. Opening the meeting was regional executive board member representing Research and Universities, Alessia Rosolen, with an overview of the challenges and opportunities for research and innovation in the region.

Presenting the Quantum FVG project funded by Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia was Professor Angelo Bassi of the University of Trieste. The project involves building a data transmission infrastructure on intrinsically secure optical fibre technology. Quantum FVG links the region’s three universities (University of Trieste, University of Udine and Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati – SISSA) and also includes the collaboration of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste and CNR-IOM. The first public demonstration of encrypted fibre-optic communication using Italian quantum technology took place last September at ESOF2020, when then prime minister Giuseppe Conte and Rector Roberto Di Lenarda of the University of Trieste made an encrypted video call. The experiment used a 10 km section of optical fibre in the region’s LightNET research network.

Future developments target connecting Trieste to national networks, like CNR’s Italian Quantum Backbone (IQB), and international networks, especially with Slovenia and Croatia. For example, the Quapital project aims to build a network connecting major cities in Eastern Europe through quantum communication technology. A further important partnership will be a project with ESA, the European Space Agency, and the start-up PicosaTs whose aim is a feasibility study on the autonomous piloting of ships.

“Friuli Venezia Giulia is the only Region in Italy that has two agreements involving the Ministry of Universities and Research, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Ministry of Economic Development: the Science and Innovation system (SiS Fvg) and the ARGO system”, emphasised Ms Rosolen. “Today we showed Minister Messa the full extent of our potential and our capacity to train human capital, a sector for which investment is fundamental. We have made careful preparations to deal with major challenges, like the ones related to planning new structural funds and the national recovery and resilience plan. We have recently been able to pool together numerous examples of the potential offered by institutions, universities, science and technology parks and innovators in business, to address the new vision imposed by the pandemic, PNRR, European-level planning being defined and the reformulation of the structural funds”.

Lawrence Banks spoke about the research being done to combat SARS-CoV-2. Mr Banks is head of the ICGEB, the international centre that is the nexus of a vast scientific network studying effective instruments to fight the pandemic on various fronts: genome sequencing and research into variants of the virus together with the LAGE laboratory and the Orfeo Data Center at Area Science Park, disinfection systems, research into effective drugs against the disease. In this last area, a group of Italian and British researchers have used a robotics system to screen over 3,000 drugs that are already approved for various diseases, and discovered that Niclosamide, a drug that has been used for over 50 years for bowel infections, has the ability to block the damaging effects of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on cells. The research was conducted in the laboratories of ICGEB Trieste, the University of Trieste and King’s College London.

ICGEB was the last stage in Minister Messa’s visit to Trieste.

“I wish to thank the Minister for deciding to spend two whole days, not only at Area Science Park, not only in renewing the ARGO agreement, but also getting to know the entire business system of Friuli Venezia Giulia”, said Chair of Area Science Park, Caterina Petrillo, in her final remarks. “We have had a series of positive meetings with institutions, the University of Udine, the University of Trieste, SISSA, ICTP and all the main scientific institutions and technology centres in the region. I think the Minister takes with her a positive impression of what we do and what we are capable of doing. My personal assessment is extremely positive. I think this opportunity has marked the strengthening of the collaboration between the central institutions, the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR), the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE) and Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia, which also applies to the country’s relaunch through the national recovery and resilience plan”.