The history of Italian computer science is deeply intertwined with that of the city of Pisa and its university. It is here that, beginning in the 1950s, the foundations of many innovations that have marked national technological progress were laid: from the construction of the Pisan Electronic Calculator (CEP), the first Italian scientific computer, to the establishment of the first degree course and the first doctorate in Computer Science in the country, to the first Internet connection in Italy in 1986.
This pioneering tradition has been accompanied by constant investment in research, training, and infrastructure, which has made Pisa a reference point for the national scientific and academic community.
Since the 1990s, the city has also hosted the Museum of Calculation Instruments, established with the Municipality, which preserves and enhances the historical testimonies of this journey, from the CEP to subsequent computers, keeping alive the memory of a unique heritage in the Italian landscape.
The Origins: the Pisa Electronic Calculator
On October 4, 1954, the University of Pisa launched the project to build the first Italian scientific computer, the CEP – Pisa Electronic Calculator. This endeavor was made possible thanks to the support of the Interprovincial University Consortium (Pisa, Lucca, and Livorno).
The CEP was inaugurated on November 13, 1961 in the presence of the President of the Republic Giovanni Gronchi: a milestone that marks the beginning of Italian computing.
Pisa and Industry: the Olivetti Electronic Research Laboratory
In the same years that the CEP experience took shape, Pisa was also home to another fundamental initiative for the history of Italian computing: the Electronic Research Laboratory of Olivetti in Barbaricina. Here, the first prototype of the ELEA 9003 was designed and built, the first Italian computer for commercial applications and one of the first in the world to be fully made with transistors. The experience of the Pisa laboratory represents one of the most advanced moments of integration between scientific research and industrial innovation in the national landscape, helping to consolidate the city’s role as a nerve center of electronics and emerging computing.
The Great Computing Centers
After the CEP, in 1964, the CNUCE – National University Center for Electronic Computing was established, later merged into the CNR. It is here that the IBM 7090 computers were installed, and fundamental skills in scientific computing and communication networks were developed.
The Birth of University Teaching
In 1969-70, the first degree course in Computer Science in Italy started in Pisa, which would train generations of computer scientists.
In 1971, the Institute of Computer Science was established, the predecessor of the current Department of Computer Science.
Doctorates and international records
In 1983, the first PhD in Computer Science in the country was established in Pisa.
In 1986, the first Internet connection in Italy was made from Pisa, an event that still allows the city to host the national registry of .it domains.
From networks to data centers
Since the early 1990s, the University has not limited itself to teaching and research but has actively contributed to the development of communication networks and digital infrastructures — as documented in the section IT in numbers — through:
- with the establishment of the Pisan metropolitan network, now extended to Livorno and with about 100,000 users;
- with participation in the construction of the national GARR network, dedicated to the academic and scientific community;
- with the design and management of the new University Data Centers, the heart of the digital infrastructures supporting contemporary research.
Chronology
1954 – Start of the CEP project.
1955 – Establishment of the CSCE, Center for Studies on Electronic Calculators.
1957-1959 – At the Olivetti Electronic Research Laboratory in Barbaricina, the prototype of the ELEA 9003 is designed and built, the first commercial transistor computer in Italy.
1961 – Inauguration of the CEP.
1964 – Founding of the CNUCE, affiliated with CNR.
1968-69 – Approval and establishment of the degree course in Information Sciences.
1971-72 – Formation of the Institute of Information Sciences; first degrees awarded.
1982 – Launch of the first PhD in Computer Science.
1986 – First Internet connection in Italy from Pisa; the .it Registry is born.
1990s – Development of the Pisa metropolitan network and the birth of the Museum of Calculating Instruments.
2000s – New bachelor’s and master’s degree programs; consolidation of the Department of Computer Science.
Today – Establishment of the University Data Centers and computing infrastructures for HPC and Artificial Intelligence.