By Giovanna Mancini

“In our small, we would like to set an example for other companies, be considered a piece of cake to rebuild a national ICT industry, which in the last 20-30 years has been disappearing in favor of the major international players, and cybersecurity, Strategic issue for the security of the state and citizens”.

Raffaele Boccardo founded his BV TECH -company specialized in ICT and cybersecurity – at the end of 2005 and in these 18 years has made it grow to become a reality with 160 million euros of turnover this year, an Ebitda of 22% and 1,200 employees throughout Italy, as well as in London, Boston (within MIT), Portugal, Spain, Germany and Switzerland.

Today BV TECH works with several national and local institutions and participating companies.

“We design, build and maintain IT and telecommunications infrastructures, and also deal with data and information security,” says Mr Boccardo, adding that, In this area, currently 80% of national expenditure on civil ICT systems is outsourced to foreign players.

“It would be necessary, instead, to develop an Italian industry of data and information security, because it is a strategic sector,” adds the entrepreneur, who yesterday brought this message to the Senate in his speech during an event to present ICTalia, The cybersecurity platform promoted by BV TECH.

The group has important development plans: “Our growth program expects to achieve revenues of 250 million by 2026 for internal lines, with an Ebitda around 24%, to which will be added about 100 million from acquisitions – explains Boccardo. In the next two years we expect to be listed on the stock exchange and through a capital increase to reach around 700-800 million”.

With the objective of reaching, within 5-6 years, a turnover of one billion euros, a threshold considered to be a watershed between the “small” and the “big” in the sector.

BV TECH invests a significant share of revenues (about 10%) in research and development projects each year, including the programme launched in Puglia (at its Grottaglie site) about 5 years ago, funded by the Region and in collaboration with Barie Mit University of Boston for the development of innovative skills in cybersecurity. The project, which involves an investment of 30 million euros over six years, has required the recruitment of a hundred people in the territory, as well as the creation of a Security Operation Center.

“The first products of the project are already in experimental use at our customers and more will come, because we intend to continue this project,” says Boccardo.