L’ambiente subacqueo come motore di innovazione tecnologica

The underwater environment is gaining increasing international importance as technological innovation surmounts longstanding difficulties in its exploration. In the current context of economic and geo-strategic challenges, the defence of undersea infrastructures and economic interests has become so relevant that the underwater environment is often considered a sixth dimension in the military domain. Technological innovation is the main driver of this significant change. As happened with the space environment, the widespread push towards a more intense use of the underwater environment is destined to accelerate and intensify technological innovation, which, in turn, will improve the prospects for its economic exploitation – with inevitable geo-strategic and military implications.

On 3 July 2025, with the support of the RINA Group, IAI organised a seminar at its headquarters to discuss these topics. The objective was to draw attention to innovation as the driving force of the underwater technological ecosystem and the underwater environment as a driver of overall technological innovation. Hence, the need to continue to fuel these activities at the level of human, financial, and industrial resources, in order to strengthen Italy’s role.