Agreement between Sparkle, University of Genoa and SubOptic Foundation for the Establishment of a Post-graduate Degree on Submarine Fibre Optic Cables

Agreement between Sparkle, University of Genoa and SubOptic Foundation for the Establishment of a Post-graduate Degree on Submarine Fibre Optic Cables

Besides the implementation of the world's first academic specialization course on submarine cables, the agreement includes collaboration on joint initiatives for the sector's development

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, the University of Genoa, one of the oldest in Italy and one of the best in the world on marine and maritime issues, and the SubOptic Foundation, a philanthropic organization that aims to promote knowledge of the digital infrastructure sector among global stakeholders, signed an agreement today for a long-term strategic collaboration to realize initiatives to teach, research and innovate in the field of submarine communications. The agreement was signed by Federico Delfino, Rector of the University of Genoa, Jayne Stowell, Board Member of the SubOptic Foundation, and Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle.

The agreement includes among its main academic objectives the implementation the world's first post-graduate course on submarine fibre optic cables.

The didactic activities of the course, coordinated by the University of Genoa, will also benefit from the contribution of expert professionals from Sparkle and other companies in the sector and will have a strong international footprint also thanks to the contribution of SubOptic, an association that confederates the global players in the sector - companies that operate, manufacture, install and maintain - and which has among its objectives that of training and attracting young talents to the industry.

The partners also intend to identify common actions in the definition of relationships at national and international level and in the organization of institutional events for the promotion of scientific-technological and entrepreneurial culture.

Collaboration is also foreseen with other bodies that share a focus on underwater technological innovation, such as the Polo nazionale della dimensione subacquea (PNS, Italian national hub of the underwater dimension), also based in Liguria at La Spezia, which brings together the national public and private excellences operating in the sector.

Federico Delfino, Rector of the University of Genoa, comments: "It is a source of pride for the University of Genoa to be the home of the world's first academic specialization course on submarine fibre optic cables. The post-degree course marks a strategic and innovative enrichment for our University in the context of marine and maritime disciplines, aimed at deepening studies of significant topical interest. The sea will increasingly be a functional infrastructure for telecommunications and Genoa, with its geographical position as an ideal bridge between the South and North of the world, will represent a highly qualified hub for higher education and a fundamental development pole for the innovation economy".

"Education and research are core to the SubOptic Foundation's mission" said Jayne Stowell, Board Member of the SubOptic Foundation. "This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate on developing education and training programs that will inspire and engage the next generation of talents to pursue careers in our dynamic submarine cable industry".

"Genoa is a strategic hub of Sparkle's innovation and growth: we have created, with the BlueMed cable and the Genoa Landing Platform, a state-of-the-art infrastructure system destined to be a central hub of digital traffic between Europe, Africa and Asia" says Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. 'It is therefore a source of pride for us to collaborate with a prestigious academy as the University of Genoa and with a reference industry institution as SubOptic Foundation with an initiative such as this specialization course which has the characteristics of uniqueness and a strong international scope, and which places oceanic fibre optic cables among the pillars of the country's educational and economic development."

Insights
Sparkle's presence and commitment in Genoa is becoming increasingly strategic: thanks to its privileged position, in fact, the Ligurian capital is becoming the preferred route in Europe for new submarine cables seeking diversified access compared to Marseille and therefore a new hub for traffic between Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

Genoa is home to BlueMed, Sparkle's new proprietary submarine cable, an integral part of the Blue & Raman Submarine Cable Systems project launched in collaboration with Google and other operators, and which will connect Italy with India, becoming the new main data highway between Asia and Europe.

Besides BlueMed's key landing site, in Genoa Sparkle has developed a truly integrated system, the Genoa Landing Platform, characterized by the innovative multi-cable 'Bore Pipe' system for the safe and plug-in docking of multiple cables without impacting the marine environment; from the beach man-haul the cables, through a network of underground tunnels, are directly interconnected with the Landing & Connectivity Hub of Genoa Lagaccio, an open and neutral colocation facility.

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About SubOptic Foundation
The SubOptic Foundation, established in January 2021 as the philanthropic arm of the SubOptic Association, focuses its efforts on education & research. The Foundation's educational programs are designed to support the development of the future subsea workforce. The Foundation's research programs are centered in areas where broad research and cooperative data-sharing would benefit the industry as a whole, including sustainability and strategic resilience. The Foundation's success in all of its programs is achieved through collaboration amongst SubOptic member volunteers from an array of companies who serve the submarine cable industry. Since its inception, the Foundation has hosted ten local language symposia across the globe, each of which introduced university and maritime academy students to the technology and business of submarine cables.

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