A decision by the Ministries of Enterprise and Made in Italy, University and Research, and Economy. “It will be a national and international reference point for research and innovation for sustainable development.”

Professor Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli, a professor of economic management engineering at the Politecnico di Bari and distinguished member of International Advisory Board of the Miami Scientific Italian Community, has been appointed president of the Taranto Technopole Foundation, the entity that will manage the large research and innovation hub for sustainable development to be built in the City of the Two Seas. This was announced by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, following the latest governance establishment acts of the Technopole by Minister Adolfo Urso, together with Italian Ministers Anna Maria Bernini (University and Research) and Giancarlo Giorgetti (Economy).

Joining Professor Messeni Petruzzelli will be Andrea Alunni, a technology transfer expert with experience in Oxford and Brussels, who will assume the role of Secretary General of the foundation. Appointed to the board of directors are Lorenzo Ferrara (president of the Taranto Environment and Reuse Productive District), Antonio Felice Uricchio (professor at the Universitá di Bari and president of the Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research, ANVUR), lawyer Leonardo Conserva, and Maddalena Vietti Niclot (commissioner of the Technical Commission for the Verification of Environmental Impact at the Italian Ministry for the Environment).

The Technopole Mediterranean Research Institute for Sustainable Development, established by the 2019 Budget Law, will join two other active hubs: the National Center for Artificial Intelligence in Turin and Chips.IT in Pavia. The stated goal is to make it a center of excellence as part of Italy’s national sustainable development strategy.