Vasily Gursky
MOSCOW, 28 March (BelTA) – The Union State of Belarus and Russia has transitioned from supporting individual economy branches to the development of cutting-edge technologies. Chief Academic Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Vasily Gursky made the statement at the international science and practice conference held in Moscow on 28 March to discuss the Union State in conditions of a multipolar world, BelTA has learned.
Vasily Gursky said: “At the initial stage of Union State development most of the joint programs focused on supporting individual enterprises, economy branches, and research teams, on resuming the manufacturing of significant types of products. At present efforts are focused on creating and developing cutting-edge areas of science and technology.”
In his words, on the basis of many years of experience of joint work and taking into account the priority guidelines of scientific research and R&D work that Belarus and Russia have adopted as many as six primary cooperation priorities have been identified: outer space research and space-related information technologies, the creation of high-performance systems and technologies for processing information, lasers and optics, nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, genetic engineering and biotechnologies, agribusiness technologies and manufacturing.
As many as eight programs have already been implemented in the Union State of Belarus and Russia in the sphere of space research and space-related information technologies. “As a result, we have secured solid scientific and technological headway into the development and creation of new construction materials, devices, and key components of the space-based system for the remote sensing of Earth by leveraging modern technologies. Software algorithms for comprehensive and prompt processing of remote sensing data have been worked out for the sake of their consequent provision and use by the relevant ministries and government agencies both in Belarus and Russia,” Vasily Gursky said.
The official went on saying: “The creation of the Belarusian satellite for the remote sensing of Earth was the most important milestone in Belarus-Russia cooperation in outer space. The satellite was put into orbit in 2012 and has been functioning for more than two operational lifetimes. In other words, it indicates high reliability of the equipment and it is certainly a credit to the work of our scientists.” The chief academic secretary of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus also drew attention to the launch of the crew transfer vehicle with the Belarusian cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya on board to the International Space Station (ISS) on 23 March. She is now working at the ISS. “It is another most important accomplishment of joint scientific efforts,” he stressed.
Four Union State programs have been implemented in the sphere of high-performance systems and technologies. “The produced results have allowed organizing the production of domestic supercomputers, creating modern application systems, mastering cutting-edge technologies powered by promising supercomputer platforms. They have allowed building a supercomputer network system powered by the SKIF supercomputer family. Those supercomputers offered brand new computation tools for the development of high technologies. The software suites that have been developed are designed for scientific and engineering calculations. They are mostly used in such areas of utmost importance as healthcare (in particular, for designing new medications with programmed qualities), development of new nanomaterials, and the accomplishment of other tasks,” Vasily Gursky explained.
Four Union State programs have been implemented in the sphere of genetic technologies and bioengineering. “A biological research and experimentation enterprise has been created as a result for the sake of producing, keeping, and testing animals able to produce recombinant human lactoferrin. Methods have been developed for growing cell cultures for treatment with stem cells. In forensic science modern DNA technologies and methods improve crime prevention and the solving of terrorist crimes,” the official mentioned as examples.
Two Union State programs have been implemented in the sphere of agribusiness technologies and manufacturing. “Innovative technologies and technological processes for growing seed potatoes have been developed as a result in addition to equipment and agricultural machines for cultivating, harvesting, and post-harvest processing of agricultural products. Technologies have also been produced for using biosafe feed compounds to feed animals. A number of other applications have also been devised,” he remarked.
Vasily Gursky added that the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in association with the Standing Committee of the Union State of Belarus and Russia is developing new draft programs. More than ten programs are going through the approval process.
