International Collaboration Research on "Autonomic Security for Next Generation Health Care Systems"

Principal Investigator: Stefano Iannucci

Co-Principal Investigator: Ioana Banicescu

Led by Dr. Iannucci and Dr. Banicescu, this project resulted in the creation of a Horizon 2020 proposal on cybersecurity in healthcare environments, specifically targeting privacy and data protection in hospitals and care centers. The consortium formed for this purpose included notable institutions such as the University of Rome Tor Vergata (UTV), the Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) in Sweden, and several private partners. Through this collaboration, MSU assumed a leading role in drafting the proposal, leading the work package on system architecture, and contributing significantly to another work package on response and mitigation strategies.

A key collaborator in this endeavor was Prof. Emiliano Casalicchio, affiliated with both BTH and the University of Rome La Sapienza, who served as a central point of contact. Despite this promising start, the initiative faced a major obstacle when, in March 2018, it became clear that MSU was ineligible to officially participate in the Horizon 2020 call due to its status as an American institution. Even before this discovery, administrative and legal complexities had emerged, particularly surrounding the necessity of involving MSU’s front-end partner company, ARDC.

Despite the challenge, the focus shifted to exploring other funding avenues, which ultimately led to the submission of two NSF AccelNet proposals. The proposal process required building a network of participants, and counted 93 leading researchers from 19 countries and 6 continents, solidifying the project's international collaboration impact.

Other activities included a student from UTV spending one month at MSU working on his master’s thesis under the guidance of Dr. Iannucci and Dr. Banicescu, marking an important step in academic exchange between the two universities. Additionally, Dr. Iannucci traveled to Italy in March 2018 to strengthen institutional ties, delivered a seminar at UTV, and held a meeting with representatives from Sapienza University. Dr. Iannucci also gave a seminar in May at BTH. Parallel to these academic exchanges, broader institutional partnerships were formed. The National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (NSPARC) expressed interest in working with Sapienza University, leading to a visit by its former director, Dr. Mimmo Parisi, who delivered a talk on smart government.

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