Italy today confirms its status as one of the world’s leading countries in terms of scientific publications, with its experts participating in big worldwide experiments. This record frequently surprises individuals who connect the country just with art and cuisine. Italian scientists work on pressurized modules for the International Space Station, explorations at sea and in underground laboratories, and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a massive nuclear fusion project that has the potential to revolutionize renewable energy production. This accomplishment is a direct result of the durability of the research, innovation, and higher education system that has been established over time, despite the well-documented issues of brain outflow and chronic funding. According to a Nature analysis, the true innovation of 2026 is not a single discovery, but rather the convergence of many fields, exchanging data, methods, and ambitions. Italy is strongly engaged in this trend, emphasizing international networks and diversified research.

News Source: 9Colonne

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In an increasingly digitized world, data security is no longer a theoretical issue. Every day, citizens and institutions entrust personal, health, financial, and administrative data to computer networks, which circulate between hospitals, laboratories, data centers, and public and commercial systems. Many of these communications, which were previously protected by systems considered secure, are destined to become vulnerable with the arrival of quantum computers: these will not only be more powerful machines, but also a technology capable of challenging the mathematical problems on which much of current cryptography is based, and thus the mechanisms that currently protect data, transactions, and communications around the world.

Quantum physics provides one of the most effective responses to this threat: Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) generates and distributes cryptographic keys using single photons, the fundamental constituents of light, in an intrinsically secure manner. Despite increased interest, large-scale deployment of QKD is still limited by the bulky, expensive, and power-hungry nature of currently available devices, which fall short of the compactness and efficiency demands of modern telecommunications. This is where integrated photonics comes in, a huge technological advancement that allows for the shrinking of critical optical components on chips, resulting in devices that are much more compact, stable, efficient, and competitive in the market.

This is the driving force behind the PIQCS (Photonic Integrated Quantum Cryptography System) project, which is being led by Marco Avesani, a researcher at the University of Padua’s Department of Information Engineering, and is being funded with €4.3 million through the FISA (Italian Fund for Applied Sciences) call, which is being promoted by the Ministry of University and Research to support applied research projects with high innovation potential and promote technology transfer.

The initiative, which is a component of European technological sovereignty policies and contributes to the European Chips Act’s objectives by promoting the advancement of advanced electronic and photonic chip technologies, including quantum technologies, will also create compact, pluggable modules that are similar to transceivers that are currently in use in telecommunications networks. These modules will be easily integrable into existing infrastructures.

This success is the result of a collaboration between the University of Padua’s integrated photonics research and the industrial knowledge of the spin-off ThinkQuantum, which specializes in the creation of quantum security solutions. Quantum cryptography has a wide range of strategic applications, including healthcare, vital infrastructure, government communications, industrial data centers, and even telecommunications and space. The latter is one of the most promising areas: compact, low-power devices are ideal for usage on satellites, where resources, space, and available power are severely constrained.

News Source: 9Colonne

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Starting Wednesday, December 4, the IT-Wallet, a digital wallet for identity documents, will be available for all users through the IO app, designed to consolidate many public services in one place. Initially, users can store their driver’s license, health card, and European disability card in digital format on their smartphones. These documents will have legal validity in physical contexts, such as during police checks or at pharmacies. Over the coming months, the app will expand to include additional documents and allow online payments and other transactions.

In an interview with Sole 24 Ore, Alessio Butti, the Undersecretary to the Presidency with a mandate for technological innovation, emphasized that the goal of the digital wallet is to simplify document use for citizens, reducing reliance on intermediaries and enhancing security. IT-Wallet essentially acts as a digital version of a traditional wallet. To activate it, users must download the IO app, available for both Android and iOS, and log in for the first time using SPID credentials or an electronic ID card (CIE). After the initial login, users can set a PIN or opt for biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or facial recognition.

The digital versions of these documents are authentic copies of their physical counterparts, with data provided by the relevant issuing authorities. The “Documents” section of the IO app has been gradually rolled out since October 23, beginning with 50,000 users, then expanding to 250,000, and later reaching one million, before becoming available to all on December 4. Initial access delays were expected as the rollout continued on Wednesday morning, and it may take a few hours for all users to gain access. The digital wallet project was included in the decree-law of March 2, 2024, related to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), financed with European funds, and has cost approximately 300 million euros.

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