The Scientific Director Giorgio Metta and the Commander of the Carabinieri TPC, Gen. B. Roberto Riccardi, sign the Memorandum of Understanding that establishes the collaboration between the two institutions for the next three years
The Declaration of Intent has been signed between the Italian Institute of Technology – IIT and the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage – TPC.
The agreement establishes a collaborative effort between the two entities to deepen studies aimed at identifying new technological tools to counter illicit activities in the art crime sector, with particular attention to illegal excavations at archaeological sites and online trafficking of cultural goods. The collaboration also seeks to enhance the capabilities of the “Database of Illicitly Removed Cultural Goods” managed by the TPC Command.
Furthermore, IIT and the TPC Command commit to engaging in activities related to dissemination and communication to increase public awareness of the importance of protecting cultural heritage.
The protagonists of this three-year agreement are the Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, a specialized unit of the Carabinieri Corps responsible for safeguarding and preventing illegal activities for the preservation of historical, archaeological, artistic, and cultural heritage, including the recovery of stolen goods; and the Center for Cultural Heritage – CCHT, the IIT center in Venice where research activities are planned based on the real needs of those engaged in the conservation and restoration of national and international artistic heritage. The center’s work spans various areas, leveraging IIT’s technological expertise in materials science, computer vision, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics.
Present at the signing, which took place at the IIT headquarters in Genoa Morego, were Giorgio Metta, Scientific Director of IIT, Commander of the Carabinieri TPC, Gen. B. Roberto Riccardi, Arianna Traviglia, Director of the Center for Cultural Heritage Technology at IIT in Venice, and Commander of the TPC Unit in Genoa, Ten. Col. Antonio Quarta.
In particular, ongoing research activities in the field of art crime at the IIT center in Venice include the use of machine learning to identify stolen cultural heritage items being sold online and the utilization of artificial intelligence to analyze data from satellite observations in space to detect unauthorized excavation sites, thus preventing the illegal acquisition and plundering of antiquities. Additionally, new research initiatives will soon be launched to identify criminal networks using advanced computer systems based on artificial intelligence.
“The institutional mission of IIT is excellence in research and its transfer into concrete applications for the benefit of all. This agreement allows us to put our knowledge in the field of digital technologies for the protection of cultural heritage into practice, starting from the real needs of those who deal with this issue daily,” says Giorgio Metta, Scientific Director of IIT. “Thanks to this agreement, we will work synergistically with the Carabinieri Corps to ensure that our studies contribute to the enhancement and safeguarding of artistic heritage. We are proud to be able to help defend something that makes Italy a special place, as known throughout the world.”
“From 1969 to today, the Carabinieri for Art have recovered more than three million cultural heritage items. It’s an important achievement, but we still have much to do. We look with great interest at the synergies with the Italian Institute of Technology and its Center dedicated to Cultural Heritage, with which we have already had other forms of collaboration,” says Commander of the Carabinieri TPC, Gen. B. Roberto Riccardi. “Technological innovation is the direction to go, to develop actions aimed at the recovery and protection of our wonders. It is the best premise for the future to give us back the past.”
“The opportunity to collaborate directly with the Carabinieri Corps in the development of technologies to counteract the trafficking and looting of cultural goods will allow us to create products tailored to their needs for the protection of Italian and international historical, artistic, and archaeological heritage,” says Arianna Traviglia, Director of the Center for Cultural Heritage at IIT. “Our Center is at the forefront of using Artificial Intelligence in the field of Cultural Heritage, with various projects already active for their protection and preservation, in some cases also funded by the European Commission and in collaboration with entities such as the European Space Agency. The support of the Carabinieri in this research journey will allow us to improve the quality of the technological applications we are developing and those planned in upcoming projects.“
