Leonardo and Snam have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the respective technological skills to support innovation and sustainability of the energy industry. The partnership will have a particular focus on digitalization, monitoring, physical and cyber security of processes, networks and infrastructures in order to increase their resilience and operational efficiency. At the heart of the agreement is also collaboration on the development of the hydrogen economy, which will play a key role in achieving the European decarbonisation objectives.
"The agreement is part of our technological and market development roadmaps identified in the Be Tomorrow - Leonardo 2030 strategic plan, based on long-term sustainable growth, which also provides for the development of advanced systems to monitor and defend infrastructure critical, as well as the evolution of aeronautical systems linked to the ecological transition " - declared Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo.
“Making key sectors of industry sustainable and protecting critical infrastructure - commented Marco Alverà, Chief Executive Officer of Snam - represent priority challenges for the future of our society. Hence our collaboration with Leonardo, pooling the skills and innovation capacity of two Italian excellences to develop technologies aimed at strengthening the safety of energy networks, optimizing their management and decarbonising the aeronautical sector through hydrogen ".
The partnership between Leonardo, the only Italian company dedicated to the protection of strategic technologies for the security of the countries in which it operates, and Snam, one of the main energy infrastructure companies in the world, will focus mainly on the cyber security of critical infrastructures, on IoT technologies ( Internet of Things) and advanced sensors for monitoring energy networks and the introduction of hydrogen in the aeronautical sector.
Large networks have recently experienced a rapid digital transformation of their physical assets. The collaboration between Leonardo and Snam will explore the possibilities offered by the most innovative technologies for increasing the operational efficiency and resilience of industrial plants. The areas of collaboration range from Industry 4.0 - with applications for the digitalized management of infrastructures and industrial processes based on IT, OT, IoT (Internet of Things), Artificial Intelligence e Machine Learning, Big Data, Blockchain, Advanced analytics e Digital Twin - to the safety of infrastructures, making use of Situational Awareness, communication technologies mission critical and advanced sensors, up to the use of drones and satellites for asset monitoring. In the cyber security area, the partnership will cover the contexts of threat analysis, monitoring, detection and response to cyber attacks.
The three-year agreement provides that the joint solutions can also be applied to other international players in the sector of large energy networks. The agreement will eventually be the subject of subsequent binding agreements that the parties will define in compliance with the applicable regulatory profiles, including those relating to transactions between related parties.
