Second act of the legal battle being fought over the supply of the quantum supercomputer to the Campania Region and for it to the University of Salerno. The Council of State yesterday issued the ruling confirming the definitive stop to the 61.2 million contract for the Quantum Valley project of the Campania Region, effectively siding with Tea Tek, the Naples-based company, known mainly for its involvement in the reindustrialization of the former Whirlpool factory in Naples, with an investment exceeding 90 million.
Read more Cyber and critical infrastructures, the US tightens on China
Ask the Sun
The questions are automatically suggested by 24Ore AI
based on the displayed content.
The story. The tender for the selection of an operator to supply a quantum computer, valued at 61.2 million, dates back to February 2025. At the center of the legal dispute is the extension of the tender deadline granted by the Campania Region – from the administration then led by Vincenzo De Luca – a few hours before the original deadline of February 10, 2025, later postponed to February 17. A decision contested by Tea Tek, the only Neapolitan company in the race, led by Felice Granisso and defended by lawyer Alfonso Erra, which came second behind the giant of the IT sector.
The tender procedure continues: by February 17 other bids are submitted, including those from IBM and other major hi-tech companies. Upon opening the bids, IBM is declared the winner of the tender, followed by Tea Tek in second place.
The Neapolitan company does not give up and engages in its legal battle undeterred by competitors who are industry giants, such as the multinational IBM. After all, Tea Tek has decided to invest in quantum technologies, as it is already carrying out an important project on a supercomputer to be installed in the research center under construction in Naples (see the article from Il Sole 24 Ore of August 19).
The appeal begins: Tea Tek and its lawyers argue that the extension of the tender deadline is illegitimate for various reasons. They also highlight other irregularities in the winning project. The Campania Region defends itself initially by citing operational difficulties of foreign operators, then a “malfunction” of the tender IT system. But it does not convince the judges and loses both at first and second instance. Now the procedure returns to the phase before the extension, with only Tea Tek’s offer to be evaluated. This does not automatically award the contract to the Neapolitan company: the Council of State also rejected the incidental appeal with which the Neapolitan company requested to be directly recognized as the winner of the tender, reaffirming that the Region retains full discretion in evaluating whether the offer is advantageous and may, if it deems appropriate, decide not to award the contract. Meanwhile, however, the Campania Region and IBM are ordered to pay 5,000 euros in legal costs.
Read more Bankers, between mergers and digitalization in the EU since 2010 there are 920 thousand fewer
