A partnership with Assolombarda, Unione Industriali Torino, Politecnico di Milano and CINECA to enhance Italy’s competitiveness through AI
The Italian Institute of Artificial Intelligence (AI4I) has joined “ForgIA”, a national initiative led by Assolombarda and Unione Industriali Torino, with the collaboration of the City of Milan, Regione Lombardia, Politecnico di Milano, CINECA, and IT4LIA – the Italian AI Factory for Leading Innovation.
The partnership was announced on 13 October 2025, during Assolombarda’s General Assembly in Milan, and represents a major step forward in building a shared and secure data ecosystem that will accelerate Italy’s industrial innovation and productivity through artificial intelligence.
The name ForgIA—a fusion of forge and intelligenza artificiale—captures the project’s essence: creating the place where data is shaped into intelligence, and intelligence becomes a force for growth.
ForgIA was launched within the broader “Rethinking Industry” alliance promoted by Assolombarda and is based on a four-layer architecture designed to strengthen the foundations of Italian competitiveness:
1️⃣ Connectivity, ensuring stable, high-speed digital networks across production sites and territories;
2️⃣ Infrastructure, developing advanced data centers to store, process and protect industrial data;
3️⃣ Ecosystem, creating a shared, interoperable digital environment for enterprises and research;
4️⃣ Applications, enabling intelligent and generative AI solutions that translate data into tangible value.
By integrating these layers, ForgIA seeks to overcome fragmentation, promote collaboration among industrial districts and research institutions, and lay the groundwork for a national AI-driven ecosystem that supports sustainable growth.
Lombardy provides the ideal setting for this initiative: it hosts the highest concentration of manufacturing firms in Italy, one of the world’s most powerful private supercomputing facilities, and a strong tradition of public-private cooperation, from Expo 2015 to the upcoming Winter Olympics.
“ForgIA represents a turning point in Italy’s path toward technological sovereignty,” said Fabio Pammolli, President of AI4I. “It brings together data, AI and industrial capabilities within a single digital framework, translating research and infrastructure into real economic value.”
Alongside Pammolli, the agreement was signed by Alvise Biffi (President of Assolombarda), Marco Gay (President of Unione Industriali Torino), Donatella Sciuto (Rector of Politecnico di Milano), and Alessandra Poggiani (Director General of CINECA).
