Information Systems
The adoption of information technologies at the Institute began in the mid-1970s, driven by the awareness that the use of the first electronic computers would open up possibilities for epidemiological analysis that had previously been unthinkable. This awareness led, in 1977, to the decision to purchase one of the very first personal computers, at a time when no other similar public body in Italy owned one.
The Information Technology Laboratory (IT) of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise was established over thirty years ago, originally known as the Data Processing Centre (CED, Centro Elaborazione Dati), with the aim of strongly supporting the development of innovative management methods for veterinary public health services, through the creation of information systems capable of generating data to support governance in this area.
Since its founding in 1981, the Institute’s IT unit has been positioned within the technical and scientific services of the organisation, an approach that stood apart from the prevailing model in other public bodies at the time, where IT was typically seen as a service supporting only administrative functions. This cross-cutting approach proved to be a real strength, based on a multidisciplinary strategy that encouraged the continuous transfer of knowledge between very different professional profiles,such as IT specialists, veterinarians, biologists, and administrative staff,leading to the development of effective and efficient tools and services.
The Institute has played a pioneering role, recognising earlier than others the growing importance of advanced technologies for creating interconnected research networks and documentation centres. These tools made it possible to overcome the limitations of physically centralised data and information, while ensuring fast access to sources and effective IT processing of statistical, epidemiological, and documentary data.
In 1981, the Operational Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology, Planning and Information (COVEPI) was established. Ten years later, it was designated a National Reference Centre by the Ministry of Health, with institutional responsibilities such as “developing national and international information systems for data management, epidemiological analysis and surveillance activities”.
The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise was one of the first Italian public bodies to launch its own website, in 1995. Even earlier, in 1992, it had been among the “Information Providers” on Videotel, the telematic service that anticipated the virtual communities of the web. Its pioneering role online is also evidenced by the fact that in 1997, the Institute’s Data Processing Centre developed and managed the first official website of the Directorate General of Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Health.
The Institute continues to invest resources in research, technological improvement, and innovation in management methods. Over the years, it has developed information systems capable of generating data needed to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of its activities, including the Laboratory Information System (SILAB), the Administrative Information System (SIAM), and the Training Information System (SIF).
The Institute’s IT specialists, engineers, and software developers have created several national information systems, including the National Registries of livestock holdings and animals (BDN), the outbreak notification system (SIMAN), the animal health plans management system (SANAN), the salmonella control plans system (SISalm), the reporting system for co-funded programmes (SIR), and the zoonoses data collection system (SINZoo). These and other applications are collected within the portal vetinfo.it, commissioned by the Ministry of Health to consolidate and present both health-related and non-health data essential for the governance of Italy’s national animal health and food safety system, with particular attention to health risk assessment along the entire production chain.
Recent applications have been developed as mobile apps, and the portal features its own dedicated app store. On behalf of the Ministry, the Institute’s National Services Centre also developed the National Information System for Pharmacovigilance, which introduced the Electronic Veterinary Prescription, officially presented on 15 April 2019 at the Ministry of Health in Rome.
These experiences have given rise to projects for national clients, such as the SILAB system provided to the IZS of Sicily and to the IZS of Puglia and Basilicata, as well as international clients, including SILAB For Africa: the Laboratory Information System which, since 2010, has been used by many Central Veterinary Laboratories in African countries. Thanks to agreements signed with the FAO in 2013, SILABFA is currently in use in 45 laboratories across 18 African countries.
Information Systems for Diagnostic Activities
The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale (IZS) in Teramo was the first of its kind in Italy to adopt an IT tool to support diagnostic activities, introducing the SILAB system as early as the beginning of the 1990s. This system, designed and developed in-house, enables the full traceability of a diagnostic sample from initial acceptance through to the final test report. It also records all relevant information relating to each sample, including, for instance, the requester, origin, test request, material, and species.
SILAB has been continuously updated in line with current international standards (UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005, Standard Sample Description – EFSA), incorporating the most advanced digital technologies. Several additional modules have been integrated into the system, such as BDN, SANAN, SINVSA, SEAP, SIMAN, and others. The success of SILAB is evidenced by its adoption by other Italian institutes, including the IZS of Sicily and the IZS of Puglia and Basilicata. In recent years, the system has also been adapted to support sequencing analyses and bioinformatics data processing.
In 2020, a dedicated One Health module was developed for managing human samples, specifically designed for handling Covid-19 samples. Veterinary laboratories played a vital role in the diagnostic response to the pandemic, and the Institute proved essential to these efforts: in the Abruzzo region alone, it accounted for approximately 60% of the population testing activity.
Over time, a number of additional applications and functional modules have been developed to meet the growing informational needs of the diagnostic process. These include systems for quality assurance and inter-laboratory circuits, in-house production of diagnostic materials, equipment maintenance and calibration, bioreagents banks, diagnostic billing, scanned test documentation, digital signatures for test reports, workflow templates, and STUD,the Unified Online Diagnostic System.
STUD is a SILAB module specifically designed for external clients. It provides differentiated user profiles and access to a wide range of services, from viewing individual analytical results to consulting various aggregated health data sets that can support decision-making processes. Users can view validated test results and download the corresponding test reports. For certain categories of clients, STUD also allows users to submit test requests directly through the system.
National Livestock Databases (BDN) and Related Systems
In January 2002, the Ministry of Health established the National Services Centre (CSN) at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale in Teramo, entrusting it with the design, development and management of the National Database (BDN) for the Livestock Registry.
The CSN is also involved in international cooperation activities, supporting the implementation and installation of livestock registry information systems in non-EU countries, including those in Eastern Europe, South America, and Africa.
Through the Veterinary Information System Portal – www.vetinfo.it – created and managed by the CSN, livestock registry operators and competent authorities have a single point of access to the web applications used for managing species-specific registries. The CSN ensures, for all applications and information systems accessible via the Portal, full compliance with the technical specifications provided by the Ministry of Health and existing legal requirements. This includes managing and controlling access, issuing user credentials, defining application profiles and permissions for each user, distributing National Service Cards, digital authentication and/or electronic signature certificates, and recording and storing all user operations related to data entry, updates, and deletions.
The Portal also provides access to other information systems developed and managed by the CSN, in collaboration with the Department of Veterinary Public Health, Food Safety and the relevant advisory bodies of the Ministry of Health. These systems are closely integrated with the Livestock Registry.
To assist sector professionals with consulting and entering data into the Livestock Registry and other information systems available through the Veterinary Information System Portal, a dedicated call centre and help desk service has been established. The service is available via the toll-free number 800 08 22 80, from Monday to Friday (8:00–20:00) and on Saturdays (8:00–14:00).
Electronic Veterinary Prescription
On behalf of the Ministry of Health, the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale in Teramo developed the Information System for Pharmacovigilance and the Electronic Veterinary Prescription. The system was piloted in several regions from 2015 and became mandatory nationwide from 15 April 2019. It enables full traceability of veterinary medicines along the entire distribution chain,from the initial prescription by the veterinarian to their administration,allowing the monitoring of medicine use in animals and promoting more responsible practices.
Key strengths of the system include the full sharing of data with all stakeholders in the veterinary medicine supply chain (veterinarians, pharmacists, distributors, and livestock farmers), the simplification and reduction of procedures and regulatory requirements, cost containment,including the prevention of fines for formal errors,the enhancement of control activities, and the reprocessing of data useful for combating antimicrobial resistance.
In particular, the electronic management of treatments, which became mandatory in 2022, allows animal owners or veterinarians responsible for stock to record the administration of medicines and ensure correct application of treatment protocols. At the same time, the quantities of medicines used nationwide are systematically recorded in the information system.
The system’s main functionalities are also accessible to all stakeholders via a dedicated mobile app, available for both Android and iOS platforms.
Genomic Sequences of Pathogenic Microorganisms - GENPAT
The Institute’s long-standing experience in the use of information technologies has positioned it advantageously to independently establish a computing centre for bioinformatics and DNA sequencing analyses. This development laid the groundwork for the creation of the National Reference Centre for Genomic Sequences of Pathogenic Microorganisms, encompassing both a genomic database and bioinformatics analysis capabilities.
Thanks to its high-level expertise and robust technological infrastructure, the Reference Centre provides scientific and technical support to the Ministry of Health and has developed the national platform for the collection and preservation of genomic sequences of pathogenic microorganisms (GENPAT). This platform supports bioinformatics analysis, data archiving, and result sharing.
Built on a reliable microservices infrastructure, the platform has, over the years, integrated advanced bioinformatics tools for genomic data analysis. Many of these tools were developed within the framework of nationally and EU-funded research projects, with particular emphasis on the application of artificial intelligence techniques,such as machine learning,to the field of genomics. These technologies have been incorporated into the platform to improve the accuracy of analyses and enhance response capacity during epidemic events, showcasing the potential of open-source platforms to strengthen analytical capabilities in public health.
The system has expanded its analytical capacity through the adoption of new sequencing methodologies such as Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and metagenomics, resulting in a significant increase in the number of analyses performed. In parallel, numerous initiatives have been launched to foster collaboration with national and international research institutes, further enhancing the ability to respond quickly to outbreaks by enabling precise identification of infection clusters.
Technological Infrastructure
The Institute independently manages its own server farm and the technological infrastructure required to support all information systems developed and maintained in-house, including their physical and logistical aspects. It ensures continuous operability and data protection to meet the reliability standards pre-established and agreed with the Ministry of Health.
Specifically, the Institute’s IT division is responsible for the administration and maintenance of the data centre, servers, storage systems, and devices for data archiving and preservation, as well as databases, the internal server communication network, internet connectivity, and the management and upkeep of the call centre telephone exchange. It also ensures service continuity and IT security. The IT team constantly monitors the performance of all hardware and software systems to guarantee response times aligned with user needs and defined technical specifications.
To ensure sufficient computing power across the various information systems and databases it manages, the IT division coordinates resource sharing by allocating data storage space and computing power according to demand. It also oversees the regular upgrade of the entire hardware fleet, the renewal of licences, and support for all products required for the aforementioned functions, such as operating systems, databases, data analysis and security software, and tools for network and performance management.
The IT department manages over 700 different servers (both physical and virtual), essential for delivering services linked to internal information systems, livestock registries, and various veterinary IT systems. These include application servers, web servers, database servers, dedicated servers for web service exposure, load balancers for distributing requests across internal application servers, virtualisation servers, logging servers for administrative actions, servers for managing the VoIP call centre exchange, and utility servers for functions such as account management, helpdesk, DHCP, email, and antivirus. The department also manages storage systems that provide sufficient space for current data registration and archiving needs, as well as backup libraries with the corresponding management servers.
A robust network infrastructure is also in place, comprising all necessary equipment for internal and external connectivity, including network switches, routers, firewalls, and Fibre Channel switches. This is supported by a full suite of auxiliary infrastructure, including power transformers, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units, generators, air conditioning and cooling systems, air distribution systems, electrical panels, and all other equipment necessary to support the technology infrastructure.
The entire data centre, including its support infrastructure, is ISO 27001 certified. It was classified in “Group A” during the national census of ICT assets in public administration, aimed at identifying National Strategic Hubs (PSN), as outlined in the “Three-Year Plan for IT in Public Administration 2017–2019”, conducted in 2019 by the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID). The Institute also holds QI2 certification, in accordance with ACN specifications.
To ensure continuity of operations and the rapid restoration of full infrastructure and system functionality in the event of disruption, a Disaster Recovery site has been secured at a remote data centre (currently Telecom Italia’s facility in Pomezia). The entire IT architecture is replicated at this site. The current Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) guarantees asynchronous data replication with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of two hours and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of four hours.