Special Issue Celebrating 25 years of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence

As AI*IA is now a quarter of a century old, we thought it appropriate to celebrate the event with a special issue. They say that at 25 all neurons are still there, and creativity is at its peak. Yet I hope a lot more will happen and the Italian AI scene will continue to develop stronger and stronger. The potential is great as it seems that in our environment “maturity” does not entail “conservationism”, neither for individuals nor for groups. For the present issue I thank the President of the Association, Paola Mello, Matteo Baldoni and Fabrizio Riguzzi for their work as guest editors. The issue includes an assessment of various areas of interest in Italy, and a collective interview to all the presidents of AI*IA. To this we have added a paper by the latest winner of the Marco Somalvico Award, given to an outstanding young AI researcher who has conducted at least three years of his most recent research in Italy. In 2013 the winner is Roberto Navigli, from Rome La Sapienza. Enjoy, and let us aim at all being there to celebrate the 50th anniversary with pride!