The Current Collaboration Landscape
UK–Italy collaboration in AI, QT and HPC is broad and long-standing, but frequently fragmented and under-structured.
Key findings
- Collaboration is strongest in AI, with dense networks around human-centred and socially impactful applications such as healthcare, education, and AI governance.
- In QT, co-authorships and shared Horizon projects are smaller in volume but strategically significant — Italy's strengths in foundational physics and the UK's emphasis on engineering and applications.
- HPC collaboration builds on Italy's deep heritage in computational science and the UK's applied strengths in engineering and data infrastructure.
- AI for science is an increasingly important shared priority across climate, energy, and life sciences.
3.1Artificial Intelligence
Across the three technologies, the highest number of scientific publications focus on AI. Over the past five years, joint journal article publications between Italy and the UK have represented about 11% and 7% of Italian and UK AI research output respectively.
Article counts by topic for Italy, the UK, and IT–UK co-authored publications.
| Topic | IT | UK | IT–UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI in Healthcare and Education | 411 | 909 | 49 |
| Ethics and Social Impacts of AI | 205 | 493 | 33 |
| Radiomics & ML in Medical Imaging | 167 | 182 | 27 |
| Explainable AI (XAI) | 146 | 158 | 20 |
| Big Data and Business Intelligence | 82 | 156 | 12 |
| Digital Transformation in Industry | 117 | 143 | 12 |
| COVID-19 diagnosis using AI | 84 | 120 | 13 |
| AI in cancer detection | 68 | 145 | 9 |
Horizon Europe Grants
Under Horizon Europe (2021–2027), Italy participates in 5,414 AI projects. Around 1,724 (32%) include both Italy and the UK, making the UK Italy’s sixth most significant AI collaborator. Unlike QT and HPC, almost 60% of UK collaborators in AI are private for-profit organisations.
3.2Quantum Technologies
Between 2021 and 2025, 251 QT-focused journal articles were published with UK and Italy co-authorship — about 10% and 7% of Italy and UK QT research output respectively. Both countries lead in quantum computing algorithms & architecture and quantum information & cryptography.
3.3High-Performance Computing
Italy displays global leadership in HPC infrastructure, with HPC6 (Eni) and Leonardo (CINECA) ranking sixth and tenth fastest globally. Between 2021 and 2025, 328 Italian and 400 UK HPC journal articles were published, with 38 co-authored — about 12% and 10% of Italian and UK output respectively. Joint work is often problem-driven in meteorology, materials, fusion and climate.
CINECA is Italy’s non-profit university consortium founded in 1969, made up of 69 universities and 27 national public research bodies. It hosts the Leonardo supercomputer, one of the top five fastest in the world. A recent development is the EU-funded AI Factory initiative, which selected Italy (CINECA as national lead) as one of only two European hubs for next-generation AI compute — including a new machine four times more powerful than Leonardo.
As a public “in-house” entity, CINECA cannot offer commercial HPC services beyond 20% of its total activity, limiting its ability to serve private companies even where demand exists.
HPC6 is the latest in a series of supercomputers operated by the energy company Eni. Completed in 2024 at Eni’s Green Data Centre in Ferrera Erbognone, it delivers about 606 petaflops — the most powerful supercomputer dedicated to industrial use. Today it supports subsurface modelling and exploration, and increasingly research in energy transition technologies including magnetic-confinement fusion, carbon capture materials, and green chemistry.