YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Scientists taking part in the STARMUS VI Festival in Yerevan presented their vision and ideas on the development of science in Armenia.

Spanish space technology enterprise Satlantis CEO Juan Tomas Hernani said that this will require great efforts. He said that huge work was done ahead of STARMUS VI and that the work must continue after the festival. “This is a very good opportunity and most importantly Armenia has adopted the right strategy,” Hernani said.

Satlantis will implement two projects in Armenia.

“Both projects will be implemented in cooperation with the Polytechnic University. The first is about cloud technology satellite data protection, and the second is participation in a European conference on studying dark matter. Therefore, the work must be continuous for the result to be continuous as well,” Hernani said.

Former European Space Agency Director Jean-Jacques Dordain said that it is a serious progress that leading experts from all over the world have gathered in Armenia.

“This isn’t the only place where I’ve spoken. I made a speech at the Polytechnic University and I have to say that the students were asking the kind of interesting questions that if I were to answer them all I’d still be there. I will also visit the University of Economics. I am sure that the motivation among students is already a promising resource for the future because the only natural resource on planet Earth is the mind [brain] of children. This is a huge capacity with condition that they receive proper education,” Dordain said.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Section Manager for Flight Electronics Arbi Karapetian highlighted the need to inspire young people to be interested in science. “It is very important that many renowned scientists visit Armenia. I think that the inspiration task is being solved that way. Second is the resource. Judging by my experience, I have to say that recently the government has increased support for private scientific initiatives. Although we are small, we have a powerful Diaspora which stands by our side and is ready to support,” he said.

The First Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry Gevorg Mantashyan noted that STARMUS VI was organized as a result of cooperation between the public and private sectors. “I think this is a very good example on how to bring together resources and reach results. We’ve clearly formulated our goals here on how to achieve good result by combining private and state resources. As my colleagues said, the most important thing is to specify the goal because in this changing world it is important not to limit yourself with one direction and be flexible, understand the important directions, find resources, organize and reach the goal,” Mantashyan said.