The new Luiss website wins the International Splash Awards 2026
The new website of Luiss Guido Carli University has won first place in the Education category at the International Splash Awards 2026, the international accolade celebrating the best projects built with Drupal. Luiss is the first Italian university to achieve this result, bringing the title to Italy for the first time.
The award was presented on 28 September in Rotterdam at DrupalCon Europe, during an event that showcased over 70 projects from across Europe.
The winning project was “Luiss Corporate website, Design system and AI search”, developed over fifteen months with the aim of rethinking the university’s entire digital presence – from its content architecture and publishing processes to the experience it offers users.
A new digital ecosystem for Luiss
The project resulted in a thorough streamlining of the site's information assets, reducing the number of pages from around 65,000 to 25,000 and cutting content publication times by 70%.
The new platform also delivers ten times better performance and 99.9% uptime, ensuring uninterrupted, reliable access to online services.
A key element of the project is the first Luiss Design System, developed by the University team in collaboration with SparkFabrik, with strategic consultancy, content architecture, and governance provided by Altura Labs.
Conceived with a multibrand approach, the Design System brings together, in a single library, the elements that define the digital experience of the entire university ecosystem. Its aim is to ensure consistency and scalability across Luiss's various touchpoints.
Open source, artificial intelligence and digital sovereignty
Underpinning the new infrastructure is the decision to use an open-source, cloud-native platform, chosen to give the University autonomy, flexibility, and control over its own technology.
Complementing this architecture is a conversational search system powered by artificial intelligence, linked to the University's official content and designed to make it easier to access information.
The adoption of open technologies thus forms part of a broader vision of digital sovereignty, one that aligns with the principles of openness and knowledge-sharing characteristic of the academic world.
Representing Luiss at the awards ceremony were Massimo Angelini and Silvia D'Angelo, from the External Affairs Department, and Francesco Amendola, from the Digital Transformation Department, along with Matteo Stendardi Turini and Alessandro De Vecchi from SparkFabrik.
Massimo Angelini, Luiss's Director of External Affairs, Corporate Communication & Partnerships, said: “We believe that a university is also judged by the quality of its digital experience.” With this project, we have chosen to regard technology, usability, and design as fundamental aspects of our identity, because we believe that innovation, flexibility, and openness align with the values that guide our University. We are proud to be the first Italian university to achieve this result.”
In his speech, Matteo Stendardi Turini of SparkFabrik highlighted the value of the collaboration with Luiss and the decision to use Drupal and open-source software as strategic elements of the project, underscoring the significance of this recognition for the technology community.
The new Luiss website is also a finalist in the Lovie Awards 2026 – the European awards for digital excellence – in the Websites, School/University category. Public voting is open until 15 October 2026.