The Genoa Data Internet Exchange (Ge-DIX) consortium was founded in September by the City of Genoa with Fastweb, BBBell, Liguria Digitale, Retelit, Rocket Way and the TOP-IX Consortium. It is an innovative project that aims to achieve the ambitious goal of making the City of Genoa an international node for data exchange interconecting Service Providers through the creation of an Internet Exchange Point (IXP) that can operate a stete of the art Interconnection Platform.
Speakers at the presentation of Ge-DIX included Mayor Marco Bucci, Ge-DIX President Luca Beltramino, BBBell Founder and President Enrico Boccardo, Fastweb CEO Alberto Calcagno, Rocket Way CEO and CTO Paolo Barigelli Calcari, TOP-IX Executive Director Andrea Casalegno, Liguria Digitale PA Business Unit Director Riccardo Battaglini, Retelit CEO Federico Protto, and Genoa Ambassadors Network in the World Coordinator Giuseppe Franceschelli.
Ge-DIX’s Internet Exchange Point will provide better connectivity to citizens and businesses in Genoa and Liguria, with important benefits for business productivity and people’s daily lives.
It will be possible through the direct exchange of Internet traffic between telecom operators, who will be able to interconnect with each other without having to pass through one or more third-party networks, with benefits in terms of improved bandwidth, data security, and rapid international data exchange available to businesses and governments. Direct interconnection also avoids the need for data to travel through other cities (and potentially to other continents) to get from one network to another, thus reducing latency and making Internet services more immediate and efficient.
The Ge-DIX consortium has a 10-year term and is a strategic hub for the digital transformation of the Genoa area, fostering its social, economic and digital culture development. It is also a decisive tool for improving the use and delivery of services for businesses, citizens and public administration.
«It also has a symbolic value for us to have contributed to the birth of Ge-DIX precisely on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of TOP-IX – explains TOP-IX Executive Director Andrea Casalegno –. It will be a pleasure to put our experience at the service of an IXP that will play an important role in accelerating the competitiveness of the Ligurian territory and is destined to become a key hub in the international telecommunications landscape, thanks to the realization of submarine links to connect Europe and Asia».
