CALL FOR PAPERS

In an increasingly interconnected world, permeated by ongoing digital transformation, information systems form the invisible yet indispensable backbone upon which decision-making processes, economic dynamics, institutional architectures, and social relations are built. Their protection cannot be reduced to a sector-specific or one-dimensional intervention; rather, it requires the organic integration of cutting-edge technological expertise, socio-cognitive and managerial knowledge, and evolving regulatory frameworks capable of addressing a rapidly shifting and complex threat landscape. These threats operate on multiple levels, undermining not only the robustness of digital infrastructures and IT networks, but also the more intangible yet equally crucial dimensions of public perception and collective trust, as foundational elements in the stability of any information ecosystem.
Today’s challenges range from organised disinformation to the systematic manipulation of digital content, from the distorted and strategic use of social platforms to targeted attacks on critical corporate or institutional assets. Such phenomena exploit cognitive weaknesses, technological gaps, and systemic fragilities with precision, operating through hybrid dynamics that combine technical impacts with psycho-cognitive effects. To this already complex scenario are added the emerging challenges posed by quantum revolution, a development destined to revolutionise not only computational architectures but also the geopolitical, economic, and technological balance of cybersecurity. In this perspective, Quantum Computing emerges as a dual-nature technology: on the one hand, it jeopardises current cryptographic paradigms, reducing their reliability and accelerating the obsolescence of security standards; on the other, it opens unprecedented opportunities for advanced data processing, predictive modelling of complex phenomena, and the structural strengthening of cyber resilience.
Against this backdrop, and in light of the growing complexity of the threat landscape and the opportunities arising from emerging technologies, SEDE 2026 aims to provide a transdisciplinary forum for scholars, decision-makers, innovators, and professionals to discuss actionable strategies and research advances directed towards building secure, trustworthy, and resilient digital environments. We warmly welcome theoretical, applied, and experimental contributions that explore innovative methodologies and technologies across a wide range of domains, including: cybersecurity, information security and mitigation of cognitive risks, information verification and automated fact-checking, cognitive security, early-warning systems for cognitive and communicative threats, AI-enabled defence mechanisms, quantum-aware infrastructures, the protection of digital assets and operational continuity in production processes, cyber risk assessment in strategic environments and critical infrastructures, the development of post-quantum algorithms and new cryptographic paradigms, human-centric strategies for the responsible adoption of emerging technologies, digital trustand platform transparency, as well as tools for public awareness and digital literacy, and the integration of digital technologies, social sciences, public policy, and geopolitics.