The third edition of ITADATA Conference (https://www.itadata.it/), organized by the CINI Big Data National Laboratory and ISTI CNR,  kicked off successfully on September 17th. This three-day event is dedicated to exploring the latest advancements in big data and data science.

The first day of ITADATA2024 was jam-packed with activities. It began with the thrilling finale of the ITADATAHack, where teams showcased their innovative solutions.

Running alongside the hackathon, a session on High-Performance Computing (HPC) featured a series of interesting presentations exploring the latest advancements in HPC and its applications across various domains.

In addition to the hackathon and HPC presentations, the first day offered a thought-provoking workshop on "Cybersecurity and Data Spaces: Covering the Last Mile of Innovation." This workshop addressed the critical challenges and opportunities at the intersection of cybersecurity and data spaces.

The last session of the morning was dedicated to the Demo "Deploying Complex Crowdsourcing Tasks Without Fear: An Introduction to Crowd_Frame" given by Michael Soprano.

The official opening ceremony of ITADATA 2024 commenced with greetings from Roberto Trasarti (CNR-ISTI, coordinator of SoBigData RI), Giuseppe Amato (CNR-ISTI), Claudio Agostino Ardagna (Università degli Studi di Milano), and Luigi Romano (Università degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope”).

The afternoon session kicked off with the first keynote speaker, Laura Li Puma, who drew on her extensive experience at Intesa Sanpaolo and expertise in AI and data-driven innovation to discuss the challenges and opportunities of data management and analysis in complex scenarios and infrastructures.

The afternoon continued with a panel discussion on "Data Management and Analysis in Complex Scenarios and Infrastructures." This panel delved into the challenges and opportunities of data management and analysis in complex, modern distributed systems, emphasizing the importance of data governance, privacy, quality, and reliability, as well as the role of AI and foundational models in connecting heterogeneous systems.

The first day of the conference continued with the awarding of the Best Ph.D. and Master Thesis Awards on Big Data & Data Science. Following the award ceremony, the day wrapped up with the presentation of the ITADATAHack Awards.

The award for best Master Thesis went to Simone Baccile with his work “Braess Paradox The Ecological Impact of Road Removal on CO2 Emissions”, while the award for best PhD Thesis went to Francesca Naretto and her work on "Explainable AI methods and their interplay with privacy protection".

The last session of the day was dedicated to the the award ceremony for the ITADATAHack. 

The first day of ITADATA 2024 provided very interesting insights and networking opportunities for attendees. We look forward to more exciting events in the coming days.