Luiss Data Lab

What Luiss Data Lab does

Luiss Data Lab is an academic research center embedded within Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome, founded in January 2018 to study big data, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation through the lens of journalism and socio-economic sciences. The center operates a portfolio of proprietary AI platforms: IDMO (Italian Digital Media Observatory), the Italian hub of the European EDMO network coordinating disinformation monitoring and fact-checking; Bodoni, an LLM- and RAG-based platform providing claim detection, topic modeling, and semantic search for newsrooms; LATIF, a semantic text analysis tool for cognitive bias counteraction funded by the European Media and Information Fund; and Migrant Map, an interactive geointelligence visualization of 66,760 migration deaths and disappearances from 2014-2024. Co-directed by Livia De Giovanni and Gianni Riotta, the Lab partners with Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, Columbia, RAI, TIM, ANSA, NewsGuard, and Pagella Politica, and operates the Zeta Luiss editorial outlet and media literacy programs including the Train the Trainer initiative and RAI's 'Pillole contro la disinformazione' series (over 1 billion cumulative views).

The Lab is a non-commercial entity funded entirely through competitive grants and institutional partnerships rather than pricing or subscriptions. Revenue-equivalent flows come from European Commission programs (Horizon 2020 projects SOMA and MediaFutures; three cycles of DIGITAL Europe EDMO funding totaling €1.3M+ in the most recent round), a €2 million Google.org grant (Impact Challenge: Tech for Social Good) plus six months of pro bono technical Fellowship, and collaborations with Italian ministries (Foreign Affairs, Defense, Education, Interior). It reaches a diversified set of 'beneficiary' segments: journalists and media professionals (primary tooling users), students and educators (Train the Trainer, school media literacy programs reaching 42,000+ students and 23,906 teachers), government and institutional bodies (policy research, election monitoring), academic and research institutions, and the general public (via RAI broadcast content). Headcount is reported at 6 core staff, with execution scaled through consortium partners and university faculty. Distribution is hybrid: direct through the IDMO platform and school/university programs, and through RAI's broadcast reach for mass-market media literacy.

Name

Luiss Data Lab

Legal name

Luiss Data Lab (Libera università internazionale degli studi sociali Guido Carli)

Website

https://datalab.luiss.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Luiss Data Lab is a non-commercial academic research center at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome that develops AI-powered platforms (IDMO, Bodoni, LATIF) for disinformation monitoring, fact-checking, and media literacy, serving journalists, educators, students, and government institutions across Italy and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Rome

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. European Research Grants: Competitive research funding from European Commission programs including Horizon 2020 (SOMA, MediaFutures), DIGITAL Europe (IDMO funding of €1,304,289.34), and European Media and Information Fund (LATIF project).
2. Institutional Partnerships: Collaborations with Italian government ministries (Foreign Affairs, Defense, Education, Interior) and international institutions (Harvard, Cambridge, Columbia, Princeton) for research projects and initiatives.
3. Corporate Grants: Funding from technology companies such as Google.org (€2 million grant plus six months pro bono technical support) for disinformation research and media literacy projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Luiss Data Lab is an international academic research center at Luiss Guido Carli University that conducts research, analysis, and monitoring on disinformation and misinformation, integrating AI, machine learning, big data analytics, and statistical methods with journalism and socio-economic sciences. It develops and operates proprietary platforms (IDMO, Bodoni, LATIF, Migrant Map) for disinformation monitoring, fact-checking, source verification, and media literacy, and delivers training programs for journalists, educators, students, and the general public.

Product overview

Luiss Data Lab operates as a university-affiliated research centre at the intersection of computer science, data science, journalism, and socio-economic sciences. Its core product portfolio centres on three interconnected pillars: (1) the IDMO platform, which coordinates Italy's disinformation monitoring, fact-checking, and media literacy ecosystem within the European EDMO network; (2) the Bodoni AI platform, which provides LLM- and RAG-based semantic analysis, claim detection, and newsroom support tools for Italian newsrooms; and (3) the LATIF platform for cognitive bias detection. These are complemented by the interactive Migrant Map data visualization, the Zeta Luiss editorial outlet, and two Horizon 2020 projects (SOMA and MediaFutures) that contribute tools for fact-checking, source transparency, and data-driven media innovation. Luiss Data Lab's media literacy services (Train the Trainer with TIM, RAI's 'Pillole Digitali' series, Mind the Web programme) serve as a dissemination and education layer across the entire product ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IDMO (Italian Digital Media Observatory): National hub coordinated by Luiss Data Lab, part of European EDMO network, dedicated to information quality, journalism and media literacy. Partners include Rai, TIM, ANSA, NewsGuard, Pagella Politica, T6 Ecosystem, Cy4Gate.

Products and services

• IDMO - Italian Digital Media Observatory Italian hub of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) coordinated by Luiss Data Lab; provides disinformation monitoring, fact-checking tools, monthly reports, media literacy resources, and a research repository for journalists, researchers, and media professionals in Italy.
• Bodoni AI Platform AI-powered platform integrating LLM, RAG, semantic models, thematic clustering, and news vector space to support journalists and newsrooms in research, verification, and news production; as of December 2025 analyzed 286,000 news articles, identified 1.5 million claims, and generated 351,000 topics, targeting 10,000 journalists across 400+ Italian newsrooms.
• LATIF - Linguistic Analysis Tool for Information and Facts Semantic text analysis platform funded by the European Media and Information Fund that helps combat cognitive biases by supporting fact-checkers and journalists with automated text analysis, claim verification, and bias detection.
• Migrant Map (La Mappa dei Migranti) Interactive data visualization tracking 66,760 migration-related deaths and disappearances from 2014 to 2024, using Geo Intelligence and Geo Visualization, with machine learning for missing data imputation; raises awareness about migration tragedies through data storytelling.
• Media Literacy Programs Media literacy and digital citizenship educational services for students, teachers, and the general public, including Train the Trainer with TIM, ANSA workshops, RAI 'Pillole Digitali' series, and Mind the Web programmes; reached over 70,000 participants and 42,000+ students in 2025.
• Zeta Luiss Journalistic outlet of the LUISS Master in Journalism and Multimedia Communication, run by 30 trainee journalists under Gianni Riotta and co-directors Giorgio Casadio and Alberto Flores D'Arcais; features articles, podcasts, and multimedia content with a focus on young audiences.
• ESPI Journalism Training School on Space Journalism Intensive training programme for journalists on space and satellite journalism, run jointly by ESPI and the Luiss School of Journalism and Data Lab; covers satellite data, Earth observation, and space journalism for working professional journalists (max 25 participants per edition).

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 70,000 media literacy participants in 2025
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship, major and standard.

• Italian Digital Media Observatory (IDMO) ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026IDMO is the Italian hub of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) network, coordinated by Luiss Data Lab. Consortium includes Rai, TIM, ANSA, NewsGuard, Pagella Politica, T6 Ecosystems, and Cy4Gate. Focuses on disinformation monitoring, fact-checking, and media literacy. Secured third European Commission funding of €1,304,289.34 in 2026.
• FIEG (Federazione Italiana Editori Giornali)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 October 2023Joint project with Google.org receiving €2 million grant plus six months pro bono technical support for AI-powered platform to analyze emerging sentiments and disinformation narratives. Targets 10,000 journalists in 400 newsrooms.
• Harvard UniversityflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration under disinformation project funded by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Involves joint research on media, data, and digital transformation topics.
• RAIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDMO consortium partner producing 'Pillole contro la disinformazione' media literacy series with over 1 billion views. Collaborative research on digital media literacy gaps and needs.
• TIMmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDMO consortium partner and collaborator on Train the Trainer program generating 72,000+ training sessions with 23,906 participants. Contributes to school media literacy initiatives.
• NewsGuardmajorTechnology or IntegrationIDMO consortium partner providing reliability ratings and information sheets for thousands of news and information websites, supplying data in machine-readable format.
• Pagella PoliticamajorTechnology or IntegrationIDMO consortium partner, Italian fact-checking organization contributing to disinformation analysis and fact-checking efforts.
• T6 EcosystemsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDMO consortium partner and collaborator on LATIF and Bodoni projects. Research and consultancy SME specializing in socio-economic impact assessment and policy analysis.
• Cy4GatemajorTechnology or IntegrationIDMO consortium partner contributing technology integration capabilities for disinformation monitoring and analysis.
• ANSAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDMO consortium partner collaborating on media literacy workshops for teachers focused on news verification techniques and critical content analysis.
• Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitutional partner for school media literacy programs. Provided support for digital media literacy gaps and needs research with 50,000+ students reached.
• University of LiverpoolstandardStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK research university partner for interdisciplinary collaboration on media and digital transformation research.
• University of DundeestandardStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK research university partner contributing to international research collaboration on media and digital topics.
• University of TartustandardStrategic or Co-development PartnerEstonia's main research university partner for European collaboration on digital media and disinformation.
• Princeton UniversityflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerElite US university partner for research collaboration on media, data science, and digital transformation topics.
• CatchymajorTechnology or IntegrationInnovative startup partner that developed the Migrant Map using Geo Intelligence and Geo Visualization techniques. Specializes in data-driven journalism and fake news combat.
• BellingcatmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent investigative journalism organization specializing in open-source research methods for public interest investigations.
• FIMI-ISAC with Atlantic CouncilflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2023, founding member of international collaborative structure to counter information manipulation and foreign interference in digital public space including coordinated disinformation, influence campaigns, hybrid operations, and propaganda networks.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• NewsGuard: Media reliability rating service identified as an IDMO consortium partner. Comparable because both produce structured, machine-readable assessments of news source credibility, supply data to journalists and platforms, and operate within the same EDMO-aligned European trust-and-safety ecosystem.
• Bellingcat: Open-source investigative journalism organization referenced as a Luiss Data Lab partner. Comparable on methodology (OSINT, Geo Intelligence, data-driven journalism), target audiences (journalists, fact-checkers, researchers), and thematic focus (disinformation, human rights investigations).
• Pagella Politica: Italian fact-checking organization participating in the IDMO consortium. Directly comparable as a peer Italian-language fact-checker serving journalists, media, and the public with verification of political claims, and as a co-recipient of EU disinformation funding.
• European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO): Brussels-based coordinating hub of which IDMO is the Italian node. Directly comparable because both organize multi-country fact-checking and media literacy activities, distribute EU funding to national hubs, and operate the shared EDMO infrastructure Luiss Data Lab runs in Italy.
• EU DisinfoLab: European disinformation research and investigative consortium headquartered in Brussels. Highly comparable to Luiss Data Lab because both operate at the intersection of open-source investigation, EU policy advocacy, and fact-checking research on information manipulation, and both engage extensively with European Commission and media-literacy stakeholders.

Regional players

• Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) news verification desk: Italy's national wire service with a verification and fact-checking function, identified as both an IDMO consortium partner and a media-literacy collaborator. Comparable as a fellow Italian news-verification and media-literity operator, although structured as a commercial news agency rather than an academic research center.

Emerging players

• Stanford Internet Observatory: University-affiliated research program studying disinformation, platform governance, and elections. Comparable on academic orientation, government advisory role, and interdisciplinary research output focused on information manipulation and media trust.
• First Draft / Information Futures Lab: Research and training organization (formerly First Draft) focused on verification, misinformation research, and journalist training. Comparable through methodology (training journalists, building verification resources) and overlapping funder relationships with European and US foundations combating disinformation.

Broad incumbents

• Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Oxford-based institute producing flagship research on trust in media, digital news consumption, and journalism futures. Comparable through university-hosted research, EU and government engagement, and recurring publications informing pan-European media-literacy and disinformation policy debates.
• Oxford Internet Institute: University-based multidisciplinary research body studying Internet-related social science topics including misinformation, platform governance, and AI. Comparable on the interdisciplinary computer-science/social-science mix and on training researchers and journalists via affiliated initiatives.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/luissdatalab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/luiss-data-lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Luiss Data Lab