Source: Sardinia Region, 25/02/2026
Sardinia Region is investing in strengthening strategic digital infrastructures, allocating dedicated resources to develop interconnection between the regional telematic network and the GARR network, the national high-speed infrastructure with high security standards. This intervention also has strategic value in relation to the major scientific projects involving the Island, starting with the candidacy for the Sos Enattos area to host the Einstein Telescope. This path has already seen the signing of important institutional acts and cooperation agreements and, to be effectively supported, requires robust, high-performance digital infrastructures capable of handling complex data flows and international scientific collaborations.
The funding, provided for in the recent Finance Act, amounts to €2 million and is part of an integrated vision to strengthen the Regional System, focusing on advanced connectivity, interoperability, and network reliability as essential conditions for research innovation and territorial competitiveness. The investment, which falls within the activities promoted by the ET Steering Committee within the Presidency of the Region, builds on the creation of a high-capacity research network for Sardinia implemented by GARR and developed through the NRRP TeRABIT project, coordinated by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN). This network has been operational since July 2025 and connects research centers in Sardinia, including the Sos Enattos site – candidate to host the future Einstein Telescope experiment – and the entire university and education community on the island, meeting the highest international standards. The network provides access to ultra-high-performance connectivity throughout Sardinia (1.6 terabits per second of aggregate capacity within the region).
«Today – says the Regional Councillor for General Affairs, Mariaelena Motzo – digital infrastructures represent a fundamental prerequisite for development. Strengthening interconnection with the GARR network means putting Sardinia in a position to support research, improve the quality of public services, and fully participate in major national and international innovation networks. Supporting the Einstein Telescope candidacy – she continues – also requires guaranteeing the necessary infrastructural conditions so that Sardinia is credible, competitive, and fully integrated into European research networks».
«Investments in research infrastructures are true engines of innovation, capable of generating progress not only for science but also for society and the territories that host them,” adds Alessandro Cardini, Director of the Cagliari Section of INFN. «We therefore welcome with satisfaction the new investment by the Sardinia Region to strengthen the island’s digital infrastructures, in continuity with the actions of the NRRP TeRABIT project that we coordinate. This action confirms the existence of a strong synergy between research institutions and the Region, with the aim of enhancing research and innovation projects that are strategic for the territory».
Ultra-fast connectivity will not only serve major projects such as the ET. Access to the GARR network will also be available to consortia and industrial and artisanal areas, public and private research centers, healthcare facilities, health research institutes, schools, cultural institutions, museums and archives of regional and national importance, and other public bodies. «Investing in these infrastructures today – concludes Councillor Motzo – means building the conditions for Sardinia to play a leading role in major processes of scientific and technological innovation, preventing territories from remaining on the margins due to structural shortcomings».