The collaboration between Hitachi Rail STS and SmartLab has been a cornerstone in digital evolution of Hitachi Rail systems thanks to AI advancements over the past 15 years.
This partnership has led to significant innovations bringing the new technologies in the railways context with main applications in Intelligent Asset Management for maintenance and traffic prediction.
A notable achievement is the creation of RAIDLab, a joint venture with the DIBRIS department, which has trained and employed over 20 professionals, pushing the boundaries of AI research and development in the railway industry.

I have been pleased with our collaboration with the PRA Lab under the guidance of Professor Battista Biggio. Research driven by PhD student Raffaele Mura has led to improvements in Robust Intelligence's product suite, and in our service engagements with customers.  This laboratory and university is making a world-wide impact!

As a past scholar of the SmartLab laboratory, my journey has been transformative. My MSc thesis there, including a period abroad in the Netherlands, laid a strong foundation. Pursuing an Industrial PhD in collaboration with aizoOn Technology Consulting further honed my skills. Today, as a Technical Leader and Senior Data Scientist at aizoOn, I attribute much of my success to the innovative environment and mentorship at SmartLab. The lab’s dedication to AI research in Industrial application has truly been a cornerstone of my career.

I joined PRA Lab as a PostDoc in February 2021 after my PhD and stayed for about 18 months. During my PhD, I had probably read all of Battista Biggio’s papers, and I was excited and honored to work with him. I quickly realized PRA Lab is a great place to do research: amazing, knowledgeable, and kind team, and great technical discussions and collaborations. I improved many soft skills. One example is the survey paper I coauthored with Antonio E. Cina and B. Biggio. This collaboration has sharpened my skills to review existing literature, systematize it, and recognize open gaps in the state of the art, which have proven useful already in my work as a researcher. Last but not least, during that time, I also came to love the beauty of Sardinia and the Italian lifestyle.

When I began my collaboration with Professor Fabio Roli and PRA Lab in 2019, my PhD topic (at Loughborough University, UK), secure and safe AI, was entirely new to me; now is my main research interest. His extensive guidance, delivered through his influential papers, was invaluable in deepening my understanding of this complex subject. His mentorship sparked numerous innovative ideas and provided insightful instructions that greatly enhanced the quality of my research, leading to the completion of my PhD and significantly influencing my academic career trajectory and professional growth. His support and recommendations were crucial in securing my current role as an Assistant Professor at Swansea University, UK.

Completing my double PhD at the SmartLab Laboratory, University of Genoa, and TUE Eindhoven was a pivotal experience. The rigorous training and innovative research environment equipped me for an incredible career journey. My roles at IBM and then at Google as a Machine Learning Specialist allowed me to leverage this foundation, contributing to cutting-edge projects and helping organizations make better decisions using advanced AI technologies. I'm deeply grateful for the mentorship and opportunities that shaped my path.

I joined the PRA lab as a PhD student under the esteemed supervision of Prof. Roli and Dr. Marcialis. I had an exceptionally positive experience: their deep expertise and mentorship style enriched my understanding of biometrics and inspired me to pursue rigorous research and innovative approaches, and to work on cutting-edge research methodologies and significant projects, in an environment that fosters creativity and critical thinking. Their insightful feedback and encouragement have consistently challenged me to push the boundaries of my knowledge and skills. One of the most valuable aspects of working with Prof. Roli and Dr. Marcialis has been their unwavering support and commitment to my academic and professional development.

I am so excited with the existing collaborations between my research team and Prof. Fabio Roli. The great efforts of Fabio and his research partners of PRA Lab and SmartLab are shaping a new world with safe AI teachnologies.
I am very pleased that our new joint lab with both PRA Lab and SmartLab is going to be located in ZJNU, China, soon in the near future.

I have had the pleasure of engaging with various members of the PRA Lab over the past 20 years. Amongst others, I have specifically worked with two of the lab luminaries: Prof. Battista Biggio and Prof. Fabio Roli. I've had the honour of hosting lab members at my institution and visiting the PRA Lab myself. These interactions profoundly shaped the path of my early career, and I hold the lab in the highest regard, considering it on par with the world's elite.The PRA Lab's focus on AI security was groundbreaking; they pioneered work on adversarial examples, attacks, and defenses, long before these concepts gained widespread recognition. The synergy of PRA Lab and SmartLab promises to be a formidable European research powerhouse in this crucial domain.

We would like to express our great interest for this Joint Lab on Safety and Security of AI. We, RINA, the multinational group that provides a wide range of engineering, testing, inspection and certification services across several domains, focuses on innovation and, therefore, we are highly interested in the outcomes of the sAIfer Lab, since we see a positive technology transfer to enhance the trustworthiness standards of our clients' AI applications, directly benefiting the reliability and resilience of their operations and systems.

We would like to express our strong interest in the Joint Lab on Safety and Security of AI. At InfoCert, we specialize in providing digital trust services and secure digital transformation solutions. We are committed to creating a world where trust in digital transactions is paramount. Therefore, we are dedicated to developing trustworthy AI, ensuring that this technology becomes a valuable opportunity for both citizens and businesses, and believe that the sAIfer Lab is an outstanding initiative in this direction.

I have been collaborating with researchers from “both sides” of the sAIferLab for almost 20 years. It has been a remarkable opportunity to visit each other, write papers together, criticize each other’s work (yes, this is also an indispensable part of science!), and teach and supervise students on various occasions and at various locations. I admire the scientific ambition as well as the intellectual capacity of the researchers in Genova and Cagliari and wish the best possible start to the new lab. Looking forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration!

Aitek S.p.A., with a strong background in intelligent systems for transportation, video surveillance for security, and digital signage for communication, developed over more than 30 years of strong commitment to cutting-edge technology, recognizes the profound impact of sAIfer Lab's work. We have always believed strongly in the quality of Italian science and research, and we look forward to seeing how the joint effort of the University of Genoa and the University of Cagliari will tackle today's exciting AI challenges to build a more understandable and more trustworthy technology.

When I was told about the merger of the PRA Lab in Cagliari and the SmartLab in Genoa into the newly established sAIfer Lab, my first reaction was “Wow... this is something big!“ The two labs have long been at the research forefront in the field of safety and security of AI, and have established themselves as world leaders in the area. Now that they will be working together as a joint team, we can only expect great things to come. I wish Fabio, Battista and all my friends there nothing but the best on their new exciting journey!

The creation of sAIferLab could not come at a more timely moment, as the global landscape increasingly focuses on AI safety and security in light of emerging regulations. The critical mass of research and expertise in the Lab is the key to lead groundbreaking research and develop solutions that will ensure AI technologies are both secure and ethically aligned. This initiative is aligned to meet the growing demands for responsible AI development, and I am confident that sAIferLab will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of AI governance and trustworthiness.

Over the past 20 years, I have worked closely with several members of the newly established sAIfer Lab (Fabio, Gian Luca, Giorgio and Giulia among others) and I can confidently state their profound expertise, dedication and pioneering spirit. Their relentless pursuit of excellence and commitment to advancing AI methodologies and AI-based technologies promise to lead to extremely innovative solutions. This new initiative will certainly foster a stimulating environment for cutting-edge research, collaboration and impactful contributions in the field of secure AI. I am also confident that they will be able to actively contribute to the CINI Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems (AIIS) Lab, which I recently took over as Director.

The study of safe and secure AI systems is of primary importance. Within this broad context, the development of adversarially robust and interpretable machine learning methods remains an active area of research where much work is still needed. This strong group of researchers, some of whom I have been fortunate to collaborate with in the past, holds the potential to lead in this field. I look forward to seeing more of their impactful work in the near future.