Zakaria Benomar holds a Ph.D. in Cyber-Physical Systems from the University of Messina, Italy. He contributed to the design and development of the Stack4Things middleware. After obtaining his Ph.D., he held a Postdoctoral Researcher position at the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Inria), Paris, France. Currently, he is a Senior Research and Development Engineer at Thales cortAIx Labs, Palaiseau, France.
His interests include distributed systems, Cloud/Edge computing, networking and IoT. Francesco Longo received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Messina, Italy, where he is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Engineering. He is the author of more than 100 scientific papers in international journals and conferences. His main research interests include analytical modeling and performance evaluation; reliability and availability of distributed systems; Grid and Cloud computing; Internet of Things and Fog/Edge computing and their applications in the context of Smart Cities; blockchain technologies and their use for IoT, Cloud, and Fog/Edge computing. He is one of the co- founders of SmartMe.IO Srl, an academic spinoff of the University of Messina focusing on transforming the advances of scientific research in the IoT field into solutions available on the market.
He is a member of the scientific committee of the Horcynus Orca Foundation and of the Messina Evolved Social District. Giovanni Merlino is an associate professor in computer science engineering at the University of Messina, Italy.His research focuses on mobile and distributed systems with particular emphasis on IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems modeled as software-defined infrastructure, especially in terms of hybrid IT/OT convergence and decentralization protocols. He played a key role in designing the Stack4Things middleware. He is co-founder of SmartMe.io, an academic spin-off and startup company, and co-inventor and holder of a patent. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Antonio Puliafito is full professor of Distributed Systems at the University of Messina, Italy.
He carries out research on Cloud computing and the Internet of things. He has been responsible for several national and European research projects. He currently directs the CINI national laboratory on "Smart Cities & Communities," which brings together over 400 researchers in computer science and computer engineering from various Italian universities. He is one of the founders of SmartMe.io, an innovative startup focused on Cyber-Physical systems and very active in smart cities and industry 5.0.