The one-year programme has been developed to equip professionals with the skills needed to support the authorisation, design, deployment, maintenance, and monitoring of subsea digital networks.
Sparkle, the University of Genoa, and the SubOptic Foundation have launched the Second-Level Master in Digital Subsea Infrastructure (DSI), described as the world’s first postgraduate programme dedicated to submarine communications and digital critical infrastructure. Applications for the inaugural programme are open until 30 September 2026, with classes scheduled to run from November 2026 to October 2027.
The one-year programme has been developed to equip professionals with the skills needed to support the authorisation, design, deployment, maintenance, and monitoring of subsea digital networks. It will be coordinated by the Department of Naval, Electrical, Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering (DITEN) at the University of Genoa and will draw on industry expertise from Sparkle and the global subsea industry through the SubOptic Foundation. The programme also benefits from an academic cooperation agreement with the University of California, Berkeley under the Erasmus+ KA171 Programme.
The curriculum adopts an interdisciplinary approach, covering technological, environmental, engineering, economic and legal aspects of subsea infrastructure, with the aim of preparing graduates to address the growing demand for specialised expertise in the sector at both national and international levels.
“With this programme, the University of Genoa expands its educational offering in a sector set to play an increasingly strategic role for global telecommunications and the blue economy. The collaboration with Sparkle and the SubOptic Foundation is a concrete example of how universities, research and businesses can work together to develop highly specialized skills and meet the challenges of innovation. This new programme showcases our University’s interdisciplinary vocation and strengthens Genoa’s role as an international reference point for education and research in marine and maritime technologies.”
– Federico Delfino, Rector, University of Genoa
“With the BlueMed cable and the Genoa Landing Platform, we have helped establish Genoa as one of the Mediterranean’s leading digital hubs and a strategic gateway for new global communications routes. Today, alongside the development of digital infrastructure, we are proud to collaborate with the University of Genoa in educating a new generation of professionals who will help drive the growth of a sector that is becoming increasingly strategic for the digital economy and the country’s competitiveness.”
– Enrico Bagnasco, CEO, Sparkle
“Education and research sit at the heart of everything the SubOptic Foundation does. Our Foundation exists to foster global cooperation, share technical knowledge, and build dialogue between industry and academia, and this programme embodies exactly that spirit. Partnering with Sparkle and the University of Genoa on this programme lets us turn our mission into a concrete pathway for the next generation to build real careers in submarine cables.”
– Jayne Stowell, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, SubOptic Foundation UK
The initiative builds on Sparkle’s expanding presence in Genoa, where the company has helped position the city as a strategic Mediterranean gateway for submarine cable systems through the Genoa Landing Platform. The infrastructure currently supports the BlueMed and Unitirreno cable systems and is expected to host the Barracuda subsea cable, which will provide the first direct fibre-optic connection between Italy and Spain by 2028.
