In April 2023, the Polytechnic University of Bari and the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS) signed an agreement to create an integrated laboratory for the development of innovative materials and production processes in the fields of security and anti-counterfeiting, with great attention to the issue of environmental sustainability.

The first initiatives envisaged by the agreement will concern the industrial development of new coatings for vehicle plates, obtained through the use of more economical and environmentally sustainable processes; the synthesis of new low-toxicity materials that can be used in the production processes of security products such as holograms; the development of innovative anti-counterfeiting elements to be integrated into banknotes, passports, and stamps produced by the Poligrafico.

The activities will be carried out at the laboratories of the Polytechnic University of Bari and the Foggia industrial center of the State Printing Institute and will involve various groups of researchers and technical experts from the two institutions.