Head of the Information Technology Department at CERN since 2021, Enrica Porcari leads a talented and enthusiastic team with whom she is pushing the boundaries of innovation and technology, focusing on serving not only CERN’s IT requirements but also those of the larger scientific community. Before joining CERN, she managed the digital aspects of several international development projects. She was Chief Information Officer at the World Food Programme, where she played a key role in setting up the Fast IT and Telecommunications Emergency and Support Team to support global humanitarian operations.
Interview by: Silvia Fiore, GÉANT
Enrica, can you tell us more about what brought you to CERN? As you come from outside the world of high-energy physics, we are curious to know your story and how it led you to the Information Technology Department at CERN.
CERN is a very inclusive international research organisation and among the best-known in the world. Its success story is due to the contribution of thousands of people with many different profiles, and I am proud to be one of them. This year, CERN celebrates 70 years since its founding, a long and proud history of ensuring research in fundamental physics reaches society at large. A fascinating journey, a compelling story of science, innovation and impact.
From my end, when I joined CERN, I had already managed Information Technology (IT) teams in large international organisations for 30 years. The field I was coming from was that of the international humanitarian organisations, where I developed a deep understanding of the societal needs, so well described by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Joining CERN was an unmissable opportunity for me, I could both support first-hand the great work of this Laboratory and its IT department to serve CERN’s mission of fundamental research to understand the origin of the universe, and at the same time build ways and envision solutions that are, or will be, beneficial to society at large. A dream come true.
Science is our driving force at CERN, but it’s not an ivory tower that keeps us away from the rest of society. A very good example are all our initiatives in the field of open science and the hundreds of software packages developed at CERN and shared with society. Just an example – it was recently announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) and CERN have collaborated to develop a robust risk assessment computer model for indoor airborne pathogen transmission based on tools developed for particle physics. The list of such initiatives is long.