Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) and Leonardo have signed a partnership agreement to develop joint initiatives that will transition ADR’s airport assets into “smart hubs”.
Together, they will create solutions in the field of cyber security, such as surveillance, monitoring, communication and decision support systems dedicated to critical infrastructure and urban air mobility, both in terms of ground infrastructure and air traffic control.
Marco Troncone, CEO, Aeroporti di Roma, commented: “The agreement signed with Leonardo stems from the desire of two large companies to share a common vision in the creation of a system that identifies innovative, sustainable and truly effective solutions, which are able to effectively contribute to the sustainable and digital transition of the aviation sector for the benefit of the country. For some time now, we have strongly accelerated innovation and digitalisation, areas in which – together with sustainability – we aim to be forerunners and to implement solutions of excellence.”
“For Leonardo, the national player for security and resilience of critical infrastructures, the agreement with ADR means combining the distinctive skills of two players of excellence, creating a technological partnership with ADR for secure digital transformation,” said Alessandro Profumo, CEO, Leonardo. “We are proud to provide our advanced solutions in the aerospace, defence, and cyber security sectors to ADR to strengthen and promote innovation, digitisation and environmental sustainability of the airports for the first Italian airport hub.”
The collaboration includes development of a managed service for collection and processing of information and events, analysed through artificial intelligence. This will utilise the Security Operation Centres of Leonardo di Chieti in Italy and Bristol in the UK to identify the specific risk profiles of the Rome airport hub.
Cyber intelligence services will also be implemented with the aim of preventing any attacks, understanding their characteristics, and verifying the degree of infrastructure security.
Subsequently, a digital twin of the Rome airport hub will be created to simulate attacks and study the appropriate methods of reaction, in order to train personnel on the relevant operational structures. Meanwhile, in the area of urban air mobility, Leonardo and ADR will maximise synergies for the development of infrastructure and study issues relating to both the control of ground air traffic and the legal and regulatory aspects of inflight operations. ADR intends to launch the first urban air mobility connections to Rome Fiumicino in 2024, and to position itself as an international player in the development of vertiports.
