In the last few years, logistics has become a strategic factor for development and competition. In fact, Research and Development activities have traditionally faced the management of Supply Chain and International Transport focussing on two main aspects: speed and efficiency. However, several vulnerabilities have recently been highlighted under a safety and security viewpoint. The weakness of the logistic chains has become more evident with the beginning of the new millennium. Terrorist attacks, such as 11/09 in the USA have caused the introduction of new rules and procedures, which affect the overall logistics showing the vulnerability of the global economy. So, nowadays, it would appear anachronistic to carry out an exhaustive research activity on the supply chain with no relation to the various typologies of risk, which may affect it.

CIELI, the Italian Excellence Centre on Integrated Logistics, which was founded at Genoa University in autumn 2003, studies the interactions between Logistics and Safety/Security aspects among its main lines of research, with the main specific goal of modelling the components of risk, and the relationships among various parameters and variables, depending on market evolution, on geographic position and socioeconomic and cultural appearance, on commercial practices and legislations/local regulations, on productive and technological solutions, on decision-making development for innovative analysis models of awkward risks to its connection with the optimization of logistic chain. Supply support is necessary for driving decisions oriented to moderate business choices, national politics and international regulations and, in this context, to supply some models that pass from qualitative esteem to quantitative analysis able to consider all operated choice implications.

Since CIELI aims to become a reference centre for Europe for the overall Mediterranean area as regards research in the field of logistics and transport planning and management, CIELI has started to find research opportunities to collaborate with different relevant research actors. One important opportunity was the NATO Science for Peace Programme, where the NATO Human and Societal Dynamics Panel approved a joint proposal by CIELI and the University of Mohammedia in Morocco under the scientific contact of Professor Azedine Boulmakoul. The proposal was related to the organisation of a workshop, that was then effectively organised in Genoa on 25–26 October 2007, with the subject “Advanced technologies and methodologies for risk management in the global transport of dangerous goods”. In fact, dangerous goods transport probably represents by definition the most vulnerable aspect in global logistics and transportation activities. The workshop represented the test bed to collect different Italian, Moroccan and world experiences of the problem of dangerous goods transport, and to compare different approaches. The main result of the workshop was the creation of an international group working on this subject, whose dimension is still increasing. Some of the experiences that were collected in the workshop have been reported in this book, which may effectively represent the current status of research on dangerous goods transport. In this respect, CIELI, University of Mohammedia and all participants are grateful to NATO, and specifically to the Human and Societal Dynamics Panel, headed by Prof. Carvalho Rodrigues for being given this opportunity.

I also wish to express my gratitude to Prof. Roberto Sacile for the organization work and to all participants that attended the workshop and had the fundamental opportunity to share knowledge and practices in Genoa, a city that has a long and sound experience in traffic management as well as historical and artistic charm.

Prof. Pier Paolo Puliafito

Director of CIELI, The Italian Excellence Centre on Integrated Logistics, University of Genova, Via Bensa, 1, 16124 Genova, Italy