Massimiliano Masi started his career in computer science at the University of Florence. He earned his MS while working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), in its information technology (IT) department, in 2006. In those years, CERN was focused on building the grid computing facility to process the data collected by its ambitious Large Hadron Collider (LHC): the Enabling Grids for E-sciencE (EGEE). There, Massimiliano had the opportunity to work with the first instances of high-performance computing by deeply understanding and developing its pioneering software tools—what we now refer to as “the cloud.”

Massimiliano obtained his PhD in theoretical computer science from the University of Florence, in 2012, where he applied formal methods to the cybersecurity of eHealth systems. His studies focused on the authentication and authorization aspects used to share electronic health records (EHRs), together with Tiani “Spirit” GmbH. Major findings became part of the international standard maintained by Integrating the Healthcare Enterprises (IHE), and some of the architectural integration profiles have also been mentioned by the European Union (EU) Commission Decision 2015/1302. Massimiliano’s EU-funded research and pre-procurement projects (epSOS, e-SENS) are now part of the architecture specifications for EHR sharing across Europe. He also contributed to IT architecture for eHealth projects in the US and Africa (especially Senegal and South Africa).

After spending more than ten years in eHealth, Massimiliano moved to standards development and Java-based mockups for cybersecurity in the smart grid and virtual power plant (VPP), by joining the Austrian-funded Integrating the Energy System (IES) project. As a natural continuation of this work, he now serves as an IT cybersecurity architect at Autostrade per L’Italia, where he is currently establishing cybersecurity services for smart roads (so-called cooperative intelligent transport systems) and securing industrial control systems deployed over 3300 kilometers of motorways.

Massimiliano’s research interests include enterprise architecture, models, formal methods, and cybersecurity. He is currently involved in standardization activities and is an active member of international technical committees. He plays bossa nova guitar and loves running.