The passing of Professor Teodoro Valente is a profound loss for the Italian scientific community, the aerospace sector, and the national research and innovation system.
For the Cyber 4.0 community, this moment holds special significance. Teodoro Valente was the first President of our Center and played a decisive role in its establishment and in shaping its identity. From the very beginning, he had a clear vision of the mission Cyber 4.0 should pursue: to build a stable platform for collaboration among universities, businesses, and institutions, capable of putting cybersecurity to work for the country’s competitiveness, security, and development.
That vision has guided the Center’s growth and continues to inspire its activities and strategic decisions to this day.
In the days following his passing, the numerous messages of condolence shared by those who had worked with him painted a unanimous picture of him. Beyond the prestige of his positions, he emerged as an authoritative scholar and a leader capable of combining scientific rigor, institutional vision, and extraordinary human qualities.
I was particularly struck by the words of a member of the Coordination and Management Committee who worked alongside him during the Center’s early stages and who recalled Teodoro’s “composure, typical of great souls.” These are qualities that those who had the privilege of working with him continue to acknowledge today with sincere esteem and gratitude.
His prestigious appointment as President of the Italian Space Agency was a natural recognition of a scientific and institutional career of extraordinary value. The entire Cyber 4.0 community proudly followed his journey, aware of the contribution he would continue to make to the country’s research and innovation system.
The best way to honor his memory will be to continue pursuing, with responsibility and determination, that vision of collaboration between research, industry, and institutions that Teodoro helped build from the very beginning of the Center.
Paul Spagnoletti