Research Technologist at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), currently based at the CNAF Computing Centre in Bologna, where he works on distributed systems, cloud infrastructures, software-defined storage, and digital services for research communities. His expertise includes cloud-native infrastructures, orchestration and automation of distributed services, storage technologies, federated identity management, monitoring and accounting systems, and the integration of platforms supporting scientific, biomedical, and cultural heritage applications.
Since 2020, he has also been active in the fields of machine learning infrastructures and data analytics, promoting scientific initiatives focused on applied artificial intelligence. More recently, his research interests have expanded to digital twins, digital services for cultural heritage, and European open science infrastructures. Since November 2022, he has served as Head of the Distributed Systems Department at INFN-CNAF, coordinating activities related to cloud computing, distributed storage, and advanced digital services.
Education
He received a degree in Chemistry from the University of Perugia in 2005.
In 2009, he obtained a PhD in Chemical Sciences from the University of Perugia with a dissertation entitled Grid Enabled Distributed Computing: From Molecular Dynamics to Multiscale Simulations.
In 2013, he earned a second PhD in Mathematics and Computer Science, discussing a dissertation entitled Simulation Modeling and Workflow Design: An Approach to Grid Enabled Distributed Applications.
Professional Career
He joined INFN in 2011 as a technologist, initially focusing on Grid computing infrastructures within the Italian Grid Initiative (IGI) and EGI-InSPIRE projects. Between 2012 and 2014 he worked at the INFN Perugia Division, supporting scientific communities in porting applications to distributed computing environments and coordinating user support and training activities. During the same period, he served as NGI International Liaison for the Italian Grid Infrastructure.
Since 2015, his activities have progressively shifted towards cloud computing technologies. He contributed to the development and operation of CLOUD@CNAF, INFN Corporate Cloud, INFN Cloud, and later INFN DataCloud, the national federated cloud infrastructure of INFN. Since 2016, he has specialized in distributed storage technologies, with particular expertise in Ceph-based software-defined storage solutions.
Between 2020 and 2022, he co-coordinated the Monitoring and Accounting Work Package of INFN Cloud, leading the development of solutions for monitoring, accounting, and resource integration across federated cloud infrastructures. Since 2022, these activities have continued within INFN DataCloud.
Since January 2023, he has held the position of Second-Level Research Technologist at INFN. Since November 2022, he has served as Head of the Distributed Systems Department at CNAF, coordinating the development and adoption of innovative distributed computing and storage technologies and services.
Teaching Activities
He regularly contributes to teaching and training activities in the areas of distributed computing, cloud infrastructures, Big Data technologies, and data analytics.
Since the academic year 2023/2024, he has been Adjunct Professor for the course Infrastructures for Big Data Processing within the Master's Degree Programme in Bioinformatics at the University of Bologna. The appointment was renewed for the academic year 2024/2025.
For the academic year 2025/2026, he has been appointed Adjunct Professor for the course Introduction to Big Data Processing Infrastructures within the same degree programme.
He has also delivered professional training courses on data analysis and visualization and contributed to the European Master's Programme in Theoretical Chemistry and Computational Modelling at the University of Perugia.
Scientific and Technological Activities
His scientific and technological activities focus on the design, deployment, and operation of advanced digital infrastructures for research.
His main areas of expertise include:
- Cloud computing and cloud-native infrastructures;
- Distributed storage and object storage systems;
- OpenStack, Kubernetes, and container orchestration;
- Monitoring and accounting of federated infrastructures;
- Federated authentication and authorization systems;
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning infrastructures;
- Biomedical and genomic data platforms;
- European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) services and technologies;
- Digital twins and digital platforms for cultural heritage.
Since 2019, he has contributed to the design and operation of EPIC Cloud, the INFN infrastructure dedicated to biomedical, genomic, and clinical data processing in compliance with ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, and ISO/IEC 27018 standards. He has held responsibilities related to personnel training, credential management, information transfer procedures, and compliance activities within the certified infrastructure.
He has also contributed to the deployment and maintenance of Kubernetes clusters hosting numerous instances of INDIGO-IAM, the authentication and authorization service supporting several national and international scientific projects.
Research Projects and International Collaborations
Over the years, he has participated in numerous national and European projects dedicated to distributed computing, cloud infrastructures, Open Science, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and digital services.
He has contributed to major European initiatives including EOSCpilot, EOSC-hub, EGI-ACE, DICE, DEEP-Hybrid-DataCloud, eXtreme DataCloud (XDC), InterTwin, AI4EOSC, Skills4EOSC, 4CH, and ARTEMIS.
Within the eXtreme DataCloud project, he served as Project Manager, coordinating administrative activities, communication and dissemination actions, editorial activities, and interactions with the European Commission. In DEEP-Hybrid-DataCloud, he coordinated cloud infrastructure activities at CNAF for machine learning and deep learning applications.
In EOSC-hub, he coordinated technological activities related to the development of cloud services and the EOSC service catalogue. In EGI-ACE and DICE, he coordinated monitoring, accounting, and storage service activities provided by INFN-CNAF.
In the field of cultural heritage, he coordinated CNAF activities within the European project 4CH and currently serves as INFN National Coordinator for the ARTEMIS project, dedicated to cloud-based infrastructures supporting digital twins and augmented reality applications for cultural heritage. He is also National Coordinator of the digital activities of the INFN Cultural Heritage Network (CHNet).
He is actively involved in collaborations with national institutions and healthcare organizations, including ISPRA and the IRCCS University Hospital of Bologna, contributing to the design and operation of secure cloud infrastructures for environmental and biomedical data management.
Institutional Responsibilities and Academic Service
Since 2022, he has served as Head of the Distributed Systems Department at INFN-CNAF.
Since 2022, he has been National Coordinator of the digital activities of CHNet, the INFN Cultural Heritage Network.
He is Observer for CNAF within INFN Scientific Commission 5 and has held several coordination roles within international projects, including INFN Cloud, CNAF Reloaded, IoTwins, 4CH, DEEP-Hybrid-DataCloud, EOSC-hub, and ARTEMIS.
He has also served on national and international evaluation committees, technology governance boards, and project steering bodies, including the Executive Committee of the Health Big Data initiative and the Technology Committee of EOSC-hub.
Editorial and Conference Activities
Since 2020, he has organized the international workshop Advancements in Applied Machine-learning and Data Analytics (AAMDA), held within the International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications (ICCSA). The workshop brings together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry working on machine learning and data analytics.
He has served on the Program Committee of several ICCSA editions and has organized international workshops focused on cloud infrastructures, storage federations, distributed systems, and digital services for scientific and cultural heritage communities.
He has also been a member of the editorial committees of the INFN-CNAF Annual Reports.
Research Interests
Distributed computing, cloud computing, OpenStack, Kubernetes, distributed storage, Ceph, object storage, cloud-native services, identity and access management, scientific data infrastructures, artificial intelligence platforms, biomedical data management, European Open Science Cloud, digital twins, and digital technologies for cultural heritage.
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