We are delighted to share that Anna Mancini, former visiting PhD student at ANETILab, received the Best Lightning Talk Award at the NetSci 2026 Conference in Boston, one of the leading international conferences in network science.The award-winning presentation was based on the paper "Evolution and determinants of firm-level systemic risk in local production networks", co-authored by Anna Mancini, Balázs Lengyel, Riccardo Di Clemente, and Giulio Cimini.

The study investigates how systemic risk evolves in the Hungarian production network and how firms contribute to the resilience or vulnerability of the economy. Using firm-level data from 2015 to 2022, the authors examine how disruptions can propagate through supply chains and affect the wider economic system.

The research reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a significant structural shift among firms carrying the highest systemic risk. While systemic risk closely followed theoretical expectations before the pandemic, firms adapted their supply relationships afterwards, resulting in a more resilient production network. The study also finds that international trade became an increasingly important predictor of systemic risk, although imports and exports influence firms through different mechanisms.

By combining network science, economics, and complex systems approaches, the paper contributes to a better understanding of how local production networks respond to large-scale shocks and how economic resilience emerges from firms' adaptive behaviour.

We warmly congratulate Anna on this well-deserved recognition and are pleased to see research connected to ANETILab being recognised at the premier conference of the network science community.