#Finsubito news dalla rete – Space, Power and Information: JCU’s Institute of Future and Innovation Studies Leads Rome Forum on the Orbital Geopolitics Shaping Earth

By Marialuisa Roscino
Originally published in Italian by Cavalierenews on October 17, 2026. English translation published with attribution to the author and original outlet.

Rome-  In the twenty-first century, outer space has ceased to be seen solely as the scientific frontier of human exploration or the domain of pioneering missions. Earth orbit has become a critical, largely invisible infrastructure supporting much of the architecture of contemporary society.

From the instantaneous financial flows that underpin global markets to satellite navigation, from climate monitoring to border security and advanced defence capabilities, everyday life increasingly depends on technological assets operating hundreds of kilometres above the Earth.

Understanding this complex and pervasive interdependence has therefore become a strategic imperative for decision-makers and information professionals alike. It was with this objective that the professional training forum “Control Space to Govern Earth: Space, Power and Information in the New Global Order” was held in Rome at the Sala Pomarancio of the Center for American Studies.

The initiative’s scientific and conceptual framework was developed by the Institute of Future and Innovation Studies (IFIS) at John Cabot University. The event was co-organised with Associazione PIUE, led by Brigadier General (Res.) Carlo Felice Corsetti, hosted by the Center for American Studies, included in the programme of the Festival della Diplomazia, and organised with the active involvement of the Ordine dei Giornalisti del Lazio.

The strategic dimension of space and the responsibility of journalism

The proceedings opened with Guido D’Ubaldo, President of the Ordine dei Giornalisti del Lazio, who stressed the growing need for media professionals to develop multidisciplinary technological and geopolitical expertise.

Training journalists to understand aerospace systems, cybersecurity and their political implications is increasingly essential if the public is to understand how developments in orbit affect the economy, political power and national security.

This perspective was further developed by Roberto Sgalla, Director of the Center for American Studies, and Brigadier General (Res.) Carlo Felice Corsetti, President of PIUE and Secretary of the Territorial Disciplinary Council of the Ordine dei Giornalisti del Lazio. Carlo Corazza, Head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Italy, also contributed to the institutional opening, bringing the European dimension into a discussion increasingly concerned with strategic autonomy, technological capacity and the governance of critical infrastructures.

Their interventions highlighted the growing strategic importance of space within contemporary forms of conflict and competition. In an environment increasingly shaped by hybrid warfare, information manipulation and asymmetric threats, journalism faces the additional responsibility of interpreting the political use of satellite data without becoming an amplifier for propaganda or arbitrary narratives.

Data are not reality: infrastructure, vulnerability, power and perception

In his introductory remarks, Francesco Lapenta, Founding Director of the Institute of Future and Innovation Studies at John Cabot University, proposed a systemic interpretation of space as an increasingly central infrastructure of contemporary society.

The challenge, Lapenta argued, is no longer to consider satellites, artificial intelligence, drones, telecommunications, global finance, logistics, security and defence as separate technological domains, but to understand the increasingly dense interdependencies connecting them.

A satellite may simultaneously support telecommunications, navigation, financial synchronisation, environmental observation, logistics, intelligence and security. Drones can operate at once as aircraft, sensors, communications nodes and data platforms, while artificial intelligence can increasingly interpret the information generated by these systems and translate it into operational decisions.

The forum was consequently structured around four interconnected dimensions: infrastructure, vulnerability, power and perception.

One of the central ideas emerging from this framework was straightforward but consequential: we cannot govern what we cannot see. Satellites generate data, not reality. The way those data are selected, processed, interpreted and transformed into knowledge — increasingly through artificial intelligence — is becoming an integral part of contemporary relations of power.

The discussion of space as operational infrastructure was broadened by contributions from Lucia Luzietti, Chief Operating Officer of e-GEOS; Gerardo Lancia of Lazio Innova; Giulio Avanzini of Sapienza University of Rome; and Sirio Zolea of Roma Tre University, bringing together Earth observation, technological capability, industrial ecosystems and the legal questions raised by the growing role of private and commercial actors in space.

Giorgio Bartolomucci, Founder and Secretary General of the Festival della Diplomazia, developed a complementary perspective, emphasising the importance of bringing traditional diplomacy into dialogue with the emerging field of space diplomacy in order to prevent orbital incidents, technological disruptions or interference from escalating into broader international crises.

Maps, algorithms and the geography of power

The forum also examined the inherently political character of geolocation and Earth observation.

Alfonso Giordano and Gianluca Casagrande explored how satellite-generated maps and geospatial data are never entirely detached from questions of power. The ownership of constellations, access to data and control over the algorithms through which information is processed increasingly shape the capacity to identify resources, monitor territories, assess environmental change and respond to emergencies.

The geographical dimension of space is therefore changing. Orbital infrastructures do not merely observe existing political and economic realities; they increasingly participate in the ways those realities are represented, interpreted and acted upon.

The geopolitical and security dimensions were further developed through the contributions of Valentina Chabert of the Istituto Affari Internazionali and the NATO Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism, alongside experts from academia, defence and the wider space-policy community.

Industrial capacity, cybersecurity and European strategic autonomy

From the perspective of industry and defence, the discussion highlighted both the strengths and vulnerabilities of the Italian and European space sectors.

Ezio Bussoletti, President of e-GEOS and former Vice President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), underlined the importance of Earth-observation data for civil protection and the monitoring of critical national infrastructure, while also drawing attention to the strategic importance of preserving European technological and operational autonomy.

Mariangela Dejana, Director of the Government & Defense Business Unit at D-Orbit Group, focused on the logistics and active management of space assets, explaining how the safe positioning, maintenance and operation of satellites are becoming essential conditions for maintaining the continuity and resilience of services on Earth.

The security discussion also included Sandra Mezzadri of MSB Consulting and ARES Group and Col. Fabio Biondi of the Italian Air Force, adding perspectives from the defence industry and cyber operations to the analysis of how civilian, commercial and military infrastructures are becoming increasingly interconnected.

Cybersecurity provided another crucial dimension of the debate. Corrado Giustozzi, a member of the CLUSIT leadership, highlighted how the cyberattack surface now extends into orbital infrastructure itself. A successful attack against a satellite network may have consequences far beyond the loss of a signal, potentially affecting financial transactions, intelligent transport systems, logistics and emergency communications.

The European dimension was addressed by Vittorio Calaprice of the European AI Office, who discussed policies aimed at strengthening secure connectivity, strategic resilience and European digital sovereignty.

The concluding contributions from journalists and analysts including Frediano Finucci and Matteo Pedditzi returned the discussion to the relationship between orbital infrastructures and information. As satellite systems become increasingly important to the way conflicts, environmental crises, economic activity and geopolitical transformations are observed and understood, the struggle over information flows is becoming inseparable from broader questions of technological and political power.

The discussion in Rome ultimately demonstrated that orbital geopolitics can no longer be treated as a specialist subject confined to the space sector. It is increasingly connected to the infrastructures through which contemporary societies communicate, observe, coordinate and govern themselves — and therefore to some of the most fundamental questions facing politics, security and public information today.

Original article: Cavalierenews, October 17, 2026.