Modern communication methods, either quantum or classical, leverage on light technologies to transmit digital information in a fast and secure way. Besides fiber-based communications, Optical Wireless Communications (OWC) provides a powerful platform to cast wireless information in a wireless, exploiting free-space propagation of IR or visible laser light. More recently, the massive spread of LED light sources for illumination purposes, sparked the research in Visible Light Communications (VLC), exploiting the idea to use LED sources to cast data along with illumination by encoding information into the optical carrier in the visible wavelength range. Many possible applications fields are covered by VLC, ranging from intelligent and autonomous vehicles, to underwater communications, to indoor localization. Our research group, by exploiting leading-edge photonic technologies developed for fundamental science, studies and develops novel VLC and OWC communication systems for both indoor and outdoor applications, with a particular focus on the optical and electrooptical components of low-latency VLC and OWC transmission chain. We have many collaborations with several research laboratories and companies in Italy and Europe, and we are part of the Joint Research Laboratory on VLC (VisiCoRe), issued by DINFO@University of Florence.