Interviewee: Gianfranco Caminale, Product &Technology Development
Manager at Leonardo.

Role in PROTEAS project: PROTEAS Project Manager

Question: Please describe in a few words your position, background and role in the PROTEAS project.

Gianfranco Caminale: Leonardo is an international industrial group, among the main global companies in Aerospace, Defence, and Security (AD&S). The company approaches global security through the Helicopters, Electronics, Aircraft, Cyber & Security and Space sectors, and is a partner on the most important international programmes, within these sectors.

My current position in Leonardo deals with the management of funded innovation programs starting from the proposal phase to the execution of the projects, in close cooperation with the structures dealing with the development of Leonardo Cyber & Security Solutions Division products. At the moment I oversee two different EDF programs for Leonardo. In addition to the PROTEAS project I am involved in another program focused on the European Defence Operational and Collaborative Cloud.

In my career I have managed numerous IT projects in the manufacturing field and several research projects in the cybersecurity area.

Question: Please describe in a few words the role of your entity in the PROTEAS project and the business goals you aim to achieve through the participation.

Gianfranco Caminale: The Product & Technology Development organizational unit of the Cyber & Security Solutions division of Leonardo participates in the PROTEAS project with two main objectives. On the one hand, it contributes to the construction of a European System for Special Forces activities, easily and rapidly deployable in the field. On the other, it also contributes to enrich its products in the Cybersecurity area with a focus on the C2 Cyber – Situational Awareness Systems: a Leonardo product that, by integrating with existing products such as Cyber Threat Intelligence, Open Source Intelligence, End Point Detection & Response tool and integrating with specific AI algorithms, guarantees centralized management, coordination and automation of both cyber-attack and defense operations.

More generally Leonardo aims, though its contribution to this project, to develop a European solution that can evolve and become a common heritage of the member states, with a view to building a Common European Defence.

Question:Please describe in a few words the added-value presented by the envisaged PROTEAS outcomes and your view on their possible future adoption.

Gianfranco Caminale: The added value of the PROTEAS outcomes lies not only in the individual vertical components, but above all in the system as a whole. All the components interact for a common purpose, that is, to produce reliable decision-making elements for missions, to safeguard the physical security of operational bases and to strengthen the cybersecurity of IT/OT infrastructures. One main specific feature of the solution is its rapid deployment in crisis areas.

Leonardo is already developing the C2 Cyber product in relation to the key elements of a special operations forces C2 system, and PROTEAS will bring further knowledge and guidance for the evolution and enrichment of the platform.