Conference Highlights Digital Ecosystems for Defense
In July, the chapter hosted the conference "Digital Ecosystems for Defence: Industrial Innovation Supporting Information Superiority" at the Italian Army Signal Command Headquarters in Rome. Organized in connection with the Italian Army Signal Corps Day, the event brought together representatives from the armed forces, government, academia and industry to discuss how resilient, interoperable and AI-enabled digital ecosystems can strengthen command and control in an increasingly complex operational environment.
Opening the conference, Lt. Gen. Antonio Tangorra, chapter president, welcomed participants before Brig. Gen. Francesco Modesto, commander of the Italian Army Signal Command, outlined the operational challenges of the modern battlefield. He stressed that future military effectiveness will depend on communications capable of seamlessly connecting distributed systems across all operational domains through cloud technologies, artificial intelligence and highly mobile networks.
The technical program began with Francesco Malandrino, CNR-IEIIT, who presented innovative approaches to critical infrastructure resilience based on cross-layer sensing, intelligence and actuation. He emphasized the need to integrate advanced networking technologies with cyber resilience to protect strategic infrastructures against emerging threats, including unmanned systems.
Lt. Col. Luca Macculi, Italian Army General Staff, described the Army's transition toward a data-centric, multiconnectivity architecture, where SDR mesh networks, LTE/5G, satellite communications (SATCOM) and microwave links are dynamically orchestrated to guarantee uninterrupted communications tailored to mission requirements.
The satellite dimension was addressed by Alessandro Galli, Telespazio, who presented a SATCOM Transport Layer integrating geostationary-Earth-orbit, middle-Earth-orbit and low-Earth-orbit satellite systems with terrestrial networks. Through the T-Box EVO platform, the solution provides resilient, low-latency communications with dynamic traffic optimization, jamming mitigation and zero-trust cyber defense.
Focusing on the electromagnetic domain, Fabrizio Vergari, Elettronica, highlighted the role of cyber electromagnetic activities (CEMA) in multidomain operations, demonstrating how cyberspace operations, electronic warfare, signals intelligence and spectrum management can be integrated to generate coordinated operational effects.
Artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as a recurring theme throughout the conference. Diego Ciarafoni, Sistemi & Automazione, illustrated how multiagent AI architectures and platforms such as Polaris and Spotlight can enhance decision-making, intelligence analysis and counter-disinformation capabilities. Representing TELEDIFE, Lt. Col. Andrea Di Ciocco explained how operational requirements are transformed into deployable command-and-control capabilities through structured acquisition, integration and verification processes, citing the IMPERIO program as a successful example of systems engineering applied to military command and control.
The closing presentation by Francesco Lippolis, BIP, focused on the strategic importance of resilient energy infrastructures, presenting XDefence, a cybersecurity solution that enhances the protection of industrial control systems through continuous asset visibility and vulnerability management.
The conference concluded with a shared vision: information superiority depends on the convergence of resilient communications, artificial intelligence, cyber defense, electromagnetic operations and secure digital infrastructures. By bringing together military institutions, academia and industry, the chapter reaffirmed its role as a strategic forum for promoting dialogue and innovation in support of future defense capabilities.
Opening the conference, Lt. Gen. Antonio Tangorra, chapter president, welcomed participants before Brig. Gen. Francesco Modesto, commander of the Italian Army Signal Command, outlined the operational challenges of the modern battlefield. He stressed that future military effectiveness will depend on communications capable of seamlessly connecting distributed systems across all operational domains through cloud technologies, artificial intelligence and highly mobile networks.
The technical program began with Francesco Malandrino, CNR-IEIIT, who presented innovative approaches to critical infrastructure resilience based on cross-layer sensing, intelligence and actuation. He emphasized the need to integrate advanced networking technologies with cyber resilience to protect strategic infrastructures against emerging threats, including unmanned systems.
Lt. Col. Luca Macculi, Italian Army General Staff, described the Army's transition toward a data-centric, multiconnectivity architecture, where SDR mesh networks, LTE/5G, satellite communications (SATCOM) and microwave links are dynamically orchestrated to guarantee uninterrupted communications tailored to mission requirements.
The satellite dimension was addressed by Alessandro Galli, Telespazio, who presented a SATCOM Transport Layer integrating geostationary-Earth-orbit, middle-Earth-orbit and low-Earth-orbit satellite systems with terrestrial networks. Through the T-Box EVO platform, the solution provides resilient, low-latency communications with dynamic traffic optimization, jamming mitigation and zero-trust cyber defense.
Focusing on the electromagnetic domain, Fabrizio Vergari, Elettronica, highlighted the role of cyber electromagnetic activities (CEMA) in multidomain operations, demonstrating how cyberspace operations, electronic warfare, signals intelligence and spectrum management can be integrated to generate coordinated operational effects.
Artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as a recurring theme throughout the conference. Diego Ciarafoni, Sistemi & Automazione, illustrated how multiagent AI architectures and platforms such as Polaris and Spotlight can enhance decision-making, intelligence analysis and counter-disinformation capabilities. Representing TELEDIFE, Lt. Col. Andrea Di Ciocco explained how operational requirements are transformed into deployable command-and-control capabilities through structured acquisition, integration and verification processes, citing the IMPERIO program as a successful example of systems engineering applied to military command and control.
The closing presentation by Francesco Lippolis, BIP, focused on the strategic importance of resilient energy infrastructures, presenting XDefence, a cybersecurity solution that enhances the protection of industrial control systems through continuous asset visibility and vulnerability management.
The conference concluded with a shared vision: information superiority depends on the convergence of resilient communications, artificial intelligence, cyber defense, electromagnetic operations and secure digital infrastructures. By bringing together military institutions, academia and industry, the chapter reaffirmed its role as a strategic forum for promoting dialogue and innovation in support of future defense capabilities.