Geodeco S.p.A. was founded in 1998 by Fabrizio Pelli (Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Dynamics), Mauro Mangini (Engineering Computing and Expert Systems) and Paolo Bazzurro (Seismic Risk and Structural Dynamics). At that time the three founders had already been involved for a number of years in major national and international projects related to their specific fields of expertise. The basic idea was to develop, within the framework of a highly specialized geotechnical consulting company, a methodology where the most advanced principles of Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) and of Non-linear Soil Dynamics concur to a more accurate prediction of seismic hazard, either at specific sites or on a regional basis. The starting point was the research carried out by Dr. Bazzurro at Stanford University under the direction of Prof. Allin Cornell, focussing on a probabilistic approach able to keep into account the non linear behaviour of the soil at each specific site. In addition, the development of a comprehensive computer system was needed in order to make such methodology applicable on a commercial basis and competitive, both in terms of time and cost, with more conventional procedures.

A number of research projects was carried out since the company was initially started, and Geodeco S.p.A. developed and improved constantly its skills and its computing tools devoted to seismic hazard assessment. In addition, Geodeco S.p.A. kept on providing geotechnical design and consulting services for a number of projects, carrying out both static and dynamic soil-structure interaction studies (including earthquake-induced kinematic soil-foundation interaction) and site amplification studies for major facilities. In order to provide potential clients with a simple, yet comprehensive risk analysis tool to be used freely on the web, Geodeco S.p.A. developed a simplified-interactive computer system for a preliminary evaluation of potential structural damage at specific sites. At present the simplified system, which is not intended for design but only for a first level evaluation of potential earthquake-induced damage, is limited to the Italian territory.