Constitution of 4Science, a company dedicated to the management, conservation and security of high-density scientific and cultural data

Turnover expected to reach 20 million Euros in the next three years

Ravenna, March 30, 2016 – Itway SpA, – a company listed on the Star segment of Borsa Italiana (IT0003057624) and parent company of Group that is market leader in the planning, production and distribution of e-business solutions, announces the constitution of 4Science — www.4science.it – a company dedicated to the management of big data on behalf of scientific research bodies, museums, universities, libraries and foundations.

The objective of 4Science is to become a market leader in the ICT sectors for Cultural Heritage and Data Curation.

The reference market is estimated to be worth some 4 billion Euros in Europe and there are just over 10 players specialized in this sector at a global level, mostly internal operators within public institutions.

The potential clients of 4Science include: cultural bodies, museums, foundations, libraries, university archives, banks, public and private scientific research entities as well as companies in the medical, pharmaceutical, aerospace, biotech, advanced materials, research sectors aiming to submit patents.

The needs of the impressive growth in scientific data volumes, so-called Big Data, include the management of flows that arrive from experimental devices and their organization, distribution, conservation, historical data handling, treatment secure from IT attacks in addition to methods to guarantee that they are complete for the purpose of experimental control and reiteration, so that they can be re-used over time.

Italy has an important know-how in the scientific data handling sector with a long tradition that started after the Second World War in physics and that then evolved to different area including, for example, that of cultural assets. 4Science is the first Italian initiative in this sector. It intends to offer scientific and cultural bodies from all over the world the experience and skills of a group of highly rated professionals – engineers, researchers, and university professors – able to support them in all phases of research projects. Itway’s presence in most of the EMEA area, as well as the in-depth and consolidated experience in the management of information security and advanced cloud services constitute the distinguishing elements of the Group that will favor 4Science in developing its activities.

The development plan of 4Science foresees reaching turnover of over 20 million Euros in the next three years with an EBITDA estimated at 20%.

G. Andrea Farina, President and chief executive of the Itway Group, said: “The creation of 4Science confirms the vision of the Group towards the value added market. The Advanced Data Management and Science and Cultural Heritage markets are undergoing a strong expansion, with few market players that are difficult to reach by non-specialized entities. In addition, it is an act of confidence in our country, where science and scientific research are not valued as they should be. We are sure that the ‘Italian way’ of doing information technology for science will be rewarded also abroad.”