This is how the national diving hub will work with Leonardo, Fincantieri, Eni and Sparkle
The role of large Italian companies such as Leonardo, Fincantieri, Eni and Telecom Italia Sparkle in the national diving centre. What emerged from the webinar "Italy, the enlarged Mediterranean and the underwater domain" organized by the Institute of International Affairs (IAI)
"Underwater is a sector of strategic importance for Italy, which sees the enlarged Mediterranean and its stability as a priority area for its international action"-
This is what was claimed by the Chief of Defense Staff, Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, speaking at the webinar "Italy, the enlarged Mediterranean and the underwater domain" organized by the Institute for International Affairs (IAI) to preview a study on the subject.
The geo-strategic and military importance of the underwater environment has grown significantly in recent decades. Undersea cables that carry the vast majority of internet traffic, gas and oil pipelines vital to the European economy due to technological innovation are now more vulnerable to undersea operations such as the Nord Stream sabotage in 2022, notes the IAI.
The underwater environment is becoming an important operational domain for the Italian Navy, and a technological frontier for the industry of the sector and more generally for the country system which is giving life to a national Polo for the underwater dimension. The diving center will soon be inaugurated in La Spezia , an incubator under the aegis of the Italian Navy to bring together and collaborate all the players in the world of diving: from small and medium-sized enterprises to micro enterprises, as well as large industrial groups (Leonardo and Fincantieri in primis but also Eni and Sparkle) as well as the world of university and research.
“Italy has a strong tradition in this domain and also has an industrial sector with great capabilities, in some cases capabilities that place it in the position of world leader” highlighted Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, President of the IAI.
All the details.
STRATEGIC DIVE SECTOR
“The underwater domain is not a new horizon for our civilization, not even for our country, even if it differs from other physical domains due to its opacity” recalled Elio Calcagno, Iai analyst who edited the paper together with Marrone.
"The war in Ukraine has accentuated Italy's responsibilities for defense and for the stability of the Mediterranean, responsibilities that extend to the network and strategic infrastructures", acknowledged Admiral Cavo Dragone, recalling how the underwater environment is still not very known and, in some respects, hostile to the exercise of state sovereignty.
NECESSARY TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL AUTHORITY FOR DIVE TRAFFIC
Precisely in light of the complexity of the sector it is necessary to "build a national authority for underwater traffic" according to Luciano Violante, president of the Leonardo Foundation.
The need for the creation of the National Underwater Traffic Authority was already at the heart of the Global Report on the Underwater World created by the Leonardo-Civiltà delle Macchine foundation and the Italian Navy in collaboration with Cnr and La Sapienza presented last March at the Naval Academy of Livorno.
“Today we are still not able to ensure adequate protection of the national interests involved in this sector. The establishment of a national underwater traffic authority would allow companies operating in the sector to have a single point of reference, as well as structures capable of guaranteeing maximum protection of critical underwater infrastructures. I think it is useful to work in the direction of this authority", said Violante, underlining that the dispersion of the decision-making centers in the sector makes "a reflection and a proposal in this increasingly complex field particularly urgent".
THE PARTICIPATION OF THE COUNTRY SYSTEM
Furthermore, “technological development and investments in the sector must push us with determination towards the awareness that the underwater dimension has become a domain in its own right. The strategic importance of underwater infrastructures requires defense to protect them, guaranteeing resources destined for other critical infrastructures” added the Chief of the Defense Staff.
“What is at stake requires the participation of the country system, realism, collaboration also in terms of research, development and international cooperation. We intend to pursue a multidisciplinary approach, enhancing dialogue with national and international excellence in the framework of a coherent and effective vision” concluded Admiral Cavo Dragone.
COOPERATION BETWEEN CIVIL AND MILITARY ACTORS NECESSARY FOR FINCANTIERI
In addition to international cooperation, cooperation between civilian and military actors is also required for the effective protection of critical infrastructure. The managing director of Fincantieri, Pierroberto Folgiero, is convinced of this. "Fincantieri is clear proof of the osmosis of the civil and military" explained Folgiero explaining that "the company's perspective is to create a positive driving force through a historic collaboration with the Navy to validate these technologies and export them for civilian application . The Navy is a natural enabler of new technologies, Fincantieri also sees the possibility of exporting them”.
NATIONAL DIVE CENTER LIKE A SEATECH
“There is an increase in the relevance of submarines and underwater drones worldwide, there is an increase in demand but there is also a willingness of naval powers to increase supply, therefore to invest, innovate and compete. This must be kept in mind in the Italian country system” highlighted Alessandro Marrone, head of the Defense program of the IAI and curator of the study.
“If it is true that innovation must be accelerated and the navy is an industrial partner that has the ability and leadership to guide the validation of new technologies, it is also true that capital from the private world can be concentrated in one physical location and the requirements that come from the world private” claimed the CEO of Fincantieri. “I am thinking of Saipem, Sparkle and Prysmian and all the great requests from those who have experiences and needs of a different nature but do not have the skills and capital to address them for this reason”.
This is why, according to Fincantieri's number one, the underwater dimension hub must be an "accelerator and validator of technology" but also a center of convergence "of requirements and capital". “If we think of the world of banks, there is the example of fintech, today a place where financial operators and technological experts meet, think of a seatech, martech new definitions of physical place where capital and requirements from companies both defense sector and the adjacent sectors” added Folgiero.
OBJECTIVE TO ATTRACT CAPITAL
“All the stakeholders have joined this pole, the Italians are very good at inventing and writing laws, but we are less good at reaching agreements and working together. Instead, in this case, all together to develop a new frontier” explained Giuseppe Cossiga, President of Aiad, the Federation of Italian companies for Aerospace, Defense and Security.
With regard to the national underwater dimension pole, it is “the first time that there is a virtual place where everyone has decided to collaborate and we must commit ourselves to ensure that everyone is truly there. There are all the institutions, all the potentially interested ministries and we know how complicated this is" explained Cossiga adding that "then there are the companies, from large to small and the whole complex world of startups".
But "one of the pole's objectives is to attract capital" Cossiga pointed out, specifying that "the pole will not live on the resources that will be assigned to it" because "we cannot think that this country is able, through the public administration, to finance the pole for the underwater dimension, it must be all of us (small and large companies together with the institutions) to work all in unison" to ensure that our country becomes a leader "even in the diving sector".
IMPORTANT RESOURCES
"The underwater environment is largely unexplored, in which very strong interests are at stake and in which important resources need to be invested" reiterated the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Enrico Credendino.
“It's hard to come up with a definition of domain on its own, but that's fate. We must speak of a new physical dimension. Important resources are needed, if it is true that 97% of the seabed is still unexplored and that 40% of the food of the next century will come from there. Then there is the energy issue”, underlined Credendino, speaking of a “world that must be explored and controlled” through large investments, so as not to fall behind other countries. “It is a question of putting all the players involved in this world in a system: civil, military, companies, start-ups, universities, research centres. We have a very important opportunity that we cannot miss. Let us all work together to have a unified action by the State”, added Admiral Credendino.
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME IMPLEMENTING A DIVE POLE
Finally, "We need to accelerate to fully exploit Italy's competitive advantage in the underwater sector, which must be our domain" declared the Undersecretary of Defense, Matteo Perego di Cremnago, in the final speech at the webinar "Italy, the Mediterranean enlarged and the underwater domain”.
“I am surprised that billions are invested to go to Mars when 80% of the seabed is still unexplored. This must be a message of awareness of the importance of creating a system and of looking united at the value of the underwater pole, which intersects the world of energy and rare earths”, said the Undersecretary of Defence.
“Even when it comes to technological innovation you have to be careful. It is undisputed that there are also repercussions of an ethical nature, but it is also true that too much regulation slows down innovation. In this sense, the ability to create a country system is fundamental. We must not waste time writing decrees for the implementation of an underwater polo but we must run to exploit a competitive advantage of what should be our domain”, concluded Perego.
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Why we need a national underwater polo . Francesco D'Arrigo's in-depth analysis for Start Magazine
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/ecco-come-funzionera-il-polo-nazionale-della-subacquea-con-leonardo-fincantieri-eni-e-sparkle/ on Wed, 31 May 2023 05:42:36 +0000.