The Memorandum of Understanding signed aboard the Amerigo Vespucci ship by the governor, Marco Bucci, by the president of the Pns foundation, Roberta Pinotti, and by Admiral Fabio Gregori
Genoa – Today in Genoa, aboard the Amerigo Vespucci ship, the Memorandum of Understanding between the National Hub for the Underwater Dimension (Pns) and the Liguria Region was signed. The agreement represents a strategic step in consolidating national leadership in the sector, with a financial commitment of 10 million euros allocated by the Liguria Region over the three-year period 2026-2028. The Memorandum of Understanding paves the way for subsequent implementing agreements, aimed at coordinating the use of regional financial resources in favor of innovative technological projects, with particular interest in strengthening the underwater and blue economy sector.
The Memorandum aims to develop collaboration between the two institutions with significant repercussions in technical-scientific research activities in the field of knowledge of the underwater dimension for the development of underwater projects and infrastructures, for possible dual-use applications. In the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Squadron Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto, the Memorandum was signed for the Liguria Region by President Marco Bucci, for the Pns by Squadron Admiral Fabio Gregori, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy in his capacity as President of the Strategic Steering Committee of the National Hub for the Underwater Dimension, and by the President of the Pns Foundation, Roberta Pinotti.
The Pns, established by law 197 of 29 December 2022, has its operational structure in La Spezia and was created to promote, facilitate and coordinate cooperation between national public and private structures operating in the underwater sector, in order to achieve the strengthening of technical-scientific research and technological innovation, as well as increasing the competitiveness of national industry and protecting related intellectual property. It pursues these objectives through the issuance of calls for tenders and the selection of related projects and the initiation of executive phases.
“The Liguria Region is investing ten million euros to support the National Hub for the underwater dimension in building projects for new Ligurian businesses: we have in fact set as a condition that the calls for tenders be aimed at companies in our territory,” declares President Bucci. “The underwater world is a sector rich in opportunities and with great development prospects: an example is the submarine cable sector, in which Genoa is already a leader, being the landing station for the vast majority of submarine transmissions related to the Internet.”
“The signature with the Liguria Region is an important one,” comments the President of the Foundation of the National Hub for the Underwater Dimension, Roberta Pinotti. “We believe that Liguria can act as a trailblazer for many other maritime regions, and not only, because the development of underwater technology represents the frontier of today and the future. Many international entities and various countries are already understanding this, but in Italy we started early and we started well, bringing together the civilian and military worlds, public and private.”
This opportunity to develop tools and technologies of interest for the Liguria Region, enhancing the excellences present in the territory, such as universities, research centers, startups, innovative SMEs and large companies. We are talking about a national strategy oriented towards the construction of defense and protection systems for critical infrastructures, but also towards the promotion of new discoveries related to the sea. At the same time, it is an opportunity for technological and economic development for Liguria.”
In turn, Admiral Fabio Gregori stated: “This is a particularly significant result not only for the important sum, but also for the repercussions that this could have on the territory and for the operational capability of the Pns. These resources will obviously be dedicated to regional projects, with an impact, therefore, on Liguria and it will be the responsibility of the National Hub for the Underwater Dimension to ensure that they are in line with all the activities that the Hub is already conducting and the experiments that are underway and whose fruits we will soon see.”
