The IAI began working on its first studies in the security sector in 1967 with leading European and American research centres. In the 1970s, the scope of these studies increased to include issues faced by the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa, as well as those specific to Soviet strategy. In the 1980s, several studies addressing China, Japan and South Asia added further breadth to the experience and direct contacts of IAI staff and researchers. 
From the beginning of the 1990s, with the profound process of revision of national defence policies and the continual changes in the framework of the industrial alliances in the field of defence in Europe and the United States, the issues concerning defence economics has assumed an enormous political and institutional importance. This is particularly true in the European context, where a process of integration of all facets of the entire defence sector has begun, albeit not in a linear manner. The issues fall within the framework of a progressive intensification of the process of creating a European defence within the European Union, which is closely related to other common policies, including industrial and technological policies, and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

It is on the basis of these considerations that the program of research, evaluation and information on political and economic aspects of defence has been intensified.

This program also includes the activities of the Security Working Group.

Projects in progress

"Security and defence" Programme

Observatory on European Defense (A.Ungaro)
The monthly Observatory provides news and analysis on European security and defence issues, including related policies and operations carried on by EU and NATO, aimed to a wider public than sector’s specialists.

Defence economics: tables and graphs  (A.Marrone)
This document presents the results of the Institute's comparison of the main defence economics parameters in the US and European countries.

Training of experts
The objective is to single out degree/doctoral candidates who, with our contribution, will write their thesis at the IAI on a designated subject selected amongst security and defence issues.

Relations with the administrations involved in security and defence policy
Consulting services, also by means of documents and notes written for this specific purpose, in order to upgrade the information the administrations receive regarding the implications of their respective activities in the field of security and defence.

Ad hoc information service for members of parliament on subjects of specific interest to the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate
The initiative intends to promote quicker training of and access to information by members of parliament, in particular with reference to realization of the new defence model and reform of the armed forces.

Data collection on Italian industry (A.Ungaro)
The programme collects basic data on trends in the main Italian aerospace and defence industries in order to provide a homogeneous picture of the sector, that can be used both nationally and internationally. In this light, support was provided for the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in preparing the part of its Yearbook on industry.

"European Security" Programme

ANVIL - Analysis of Civil Security Systems in Europe FP7-SEC2010
Project directors: F.Di Camillo
Researchers: A.Marrone, N.Sartori, S.Silvestri
Partners: Research Management AS / Coordinator (Norway), Universiteit Utrecht (Netherlands), Ideella Foreningar Utrikespolitiskainstitutet Informationsavd (Sweden), University of Essex (UK), Institut za Medunarodne Odnose Imo (Croatia), Hellenberg International (Finland) Institut fur Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik (Germany), Swedish National Defence College (Sweden), Univeristet u Beogradu (Serbia), Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique (France), Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza (Poland)
Sponsor: European Commission - 7th Framework Programme
The objective in this project is to explore and compare relevant cultural phenomena and legal determinations of civil security across Europe, taking into account the existing significant differences between countries and regions. The aim is to give the EU a clear view of which kind of systems that could successfully enhance the security in certain regions, and contribute and give EU-added value to the debate concerning “not one security fits all”.

BRIDGES - Building Relationships and Interactions to Develop GMES for European Security
Project directors: JP.Darnis
Researchers: A.Veclani, N.Sartori
Partners: European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC, Coordinator) in cooperation with European companies and research institutes
Sponsor: European Commission - 7th Framework Programme
Research project aimed at defining governance models for the security dimension of GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) as well as the role of EUSC within it. The project is based not only on research and analysis, but also on the interaction with representatives of the European institutions and agencies involved in GMES.
Project website

Cyber+Space Series
Project directors: S.Silvestri
Researchers: A.Marrone
Sponsor: Finmeccanica
IAI cooperates with Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs) on the initiative Cyber+Space Series, launched in the UK with the active support of Finmeccanica. It follows up the three-years programme European Security and Defence Forum. The project discusses security and defence issues connected with the cyber and space domains, with a particular focus on the nexus between the two. The Series analyses threats and risks related to these domains, possible strategies to address them at national and international level (particularly in European and Transatlantic frameworks) as well as technological and industrial capabilities needed to support such strategies. The initiative includes ad hoc papers and seminars among experts and representatives of public and private stakeholders.

G-NEXT- GMES pre-operational security services for supporting external actions
Project director: JP.Darnis
Researchers: A.Veclani, N.Sartori
Partners: e-Geos (Coordinator) in cooperation with European companies and research institutes
Sponsor: European Commission - 7th Framework Programme
G-NEXT will identify and offer a set of services in support to the EU external action that will be suitably integrated in the user working environment in an effective and reliable way. The research and development focus will be on the enhancement of crisis management response services, while filling the relevant gaps and adopting a pre-operational perspective. Reference users of the products and services include the main actors and stakeholders involved in EU missions in support to external action (i.e. EEAS, Member States’ ministries of foreign affairs and of defence, etc.).
The objectives of the projects are: (a) demonstrating the effective contribution of an integrated geo-spatial service concept to respond to the needs of EU external action by providing the user community with an evolving set of security services and products. (b) Involving the main user organizations in the project making its services available to them for their strategic and operational activities. (c) Assuring the continuity of the work done in previous GMES projects and especially on the security (LIMES, G-MOSAIC, tec.) and emergency (SAFER) domains. (d) Implementing synergies with the other GMES projects and relevant European initiatives. (e) Performing a comprehensive benefits analysis taking into account the main drivers for the set up of an operational framework. (f) Addressing the potential service evolution for 2014 – start of GMES operations - and onwards.
G-NEXT is complementary to G-SEXTANT, with which the appropriate interactions will be established. In addition, the project will take into consideration the results of the project BRIDGES.

G-SEXTANT- SERVICE PROVISION OF GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE IN EU EXTERNAL ACTIONS SUPPORT
Project director: JP.Darnis
Researchers: A.Veclani, N.Sartori
Partners: INDRA (Coordinator) in cooperation with European companies and research institutes
Sponsor: European Commission - 7th Framework Programme
The goal of G-SEXTANT is to consolidate a portfolio of Earth Observation products and services that support the geospatial information (geoinformation) needs of the EU external action.
Focusing on the gaps identified in previous GMES Security projects (i.e. LIMES, G-MOSAIC, etc.), the main objectives of G-SEXTANT are: (i) preparation and delivery of pre-operational services which are user-driven and in particular related to EU external action scenarios; (ii) further enhancement of already mature products and services demanded by the users; and (iii) the definition of a standardized portfolio.
Demonstrations will be conducted in different scenarios to cover the potential application areas of interest such as humanitarian crisis, natural resources, land conflict situation awareness, nuclear activities, monitoring of illicit crops and border monitoring outside the EU.
G-SEXTANT is complementary to G-NEXT, with which the appropriate interactions will be established. In addition, the project will take into consideration the results of the project BRIDGES.

Network Enabled Capabilitis Technical Challenges - NEC TC
Project directors: M.Nones
Researchers: A.Marrone
Partners: Selex Sistemi Integrati (Coordinatore), Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique (FR)
Sponsor: European Defence Agency (EDA)
The study aims to identify the technologies to develop in Europe in order to contribute to the implementation of network enabled capabilities to be utilized by European Armed Forces.
The research project builds upon previous EDA studies and is aimed to evaluate technological areas and single technologies concerning their importance, maturity and need of investments in order to define a technological roadmap. Every technology is evaluated with regards to three dimensions: People, Information and Technology, as human, cultural, organizational and procedural elements related to technological innovation shall be considered.

Partnership con la NATO Defence College Foundation
Project director: S.Silvestri
Researchers: A.Marrone
The IAI does cooperate since 2011 with the newly established NATO Defence College Foundation (NDCF) and the NATO Defence College (NDC), on a number of initiatives aimed to promote the debate in Italy about issues related to European and Transatlantic security as well as NATO. The partnership aims to engage a variety of international actors, including government agencies and NGOs, institutions and private sector entities, in order to improve the quality of the public debate and its global outreach. The first initiative has been the conference “NATO and the Arab Spring” held in Rome on November, 2011. The two-days meeting gathered speakers and participants from the Arab World, Europe and North America, including the NATO Deputy Secretary General.

SECUREMETRO - Inherently secure blast resistant and fire safe metro vehicles  
Project director: F.Di Camillo
Researchers: N.Sartori
Partners: University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Coordinator), consortium of European research institutes and transport and security companies 
Sponsor: European Commission - 7th Framework Programme
SecureMetro aims to create an integrated safety and security model for metropolitan transport systems. The project will consider metro vehicles security and resilience performances in situations where an attack using conventional explosives and firebombs takes place, seeking the best combination of materials and structural design in order to minimize the impact of the attack on passengers, staff and infrastructure.

Study on the impact on European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) of defence offsets requested by third countries
Project director: M.Nones
Researchers: A.Marrone, A.Ungaro
Partners: Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS – Coordinatore), Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Sponsor: European Defence Agency (EDA)
The study aims at analyzing offsets in the international defence market with a particular focus on European aerospace, defence and security industry. Through the study of 9 non-European countries, the objective is to identify consequences and risks posed by offsets in terms of technology transfer, security of supply, impact on related employment in the EU and the progressive growth of non-European competitors in the defence sector. Finally, the project intends to discuss possible measures to be taken at European level in order to address the offsets’ consequences and mitigate the related risks on European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). IAI is partner of the study that is coordinated by IRIS.

Towards a European Global Strategy
For further details visit our section: EU institutions and policies.

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