The President of the Italian Space Agency, Giorgio Saccoccia, during his visit to Matera of the Space Geodesy Centre (the only ASI Operational Centre in Italy) and other institutional visits, visited the Exhibition “Above & Beyond”, at the Space Academy di Openet Terchnologies, dedicated to the first 100 years of the International Astronomical Union IAU and promoted by the IAU itself together with the SAIt Italian Astronomical Society, the INAF National Institute for Astrophysics, Openet Technologies and sponsored by the ASI.
Vito Gaudiano, CEO of Openet Technologies, hosted the event, along with Professor Roberto Buonanno, President of the Italian Astronomical Society. President Saccoccia was accompanied by Professor Pippo Bianco, Director of the Space Geodesy Center in Matera.
With his presence, the President emphasized the importance of scientific outreach and youth initiatives to foster interest in the great astronomical discoveries that, thanks to scientific and technological advances, have brought significant benefits to humanity's economic and social development. President Saccoccia appreciated the exhibition and the integrated workshop initiatives for active visitor participation through experiments. This model reminded him of his own experience at the European Space Agency, reiterating his satisfaction that this initiative is taking place in Southern Italy, and specifically in Matera.
Dr. Gaudiano, after a brief presentation of the company, illustrated the development activities of the Space Academy of Openet, the flagship of the acceleration program SPARKme (co-financed by the Italian and European Space Agency), which see for the year 2020, with the initiative of the exhibition “Above & Beyond”, the launch of a structured path that includes a series of national and international events, which nominates theAcademy to become one of the most important stages in scientific dissemination". In fact, thanks to the consolidation of strategic partnerships with theUniversity of Basilicata, with the Italian Astronomical Society, with theNational Institute of Astrophysics, il Space Geodesy Center of Matera and other key players in the world of research and technology, below are the main events organized and hosted by the Academy:
- July 2020 – Residential, Orientation, and Excellence Summer School of Astronomy “At the School of Stars”, aimed at 25/30 students from all over Italy attending secondary school, particularly deserving and interested in participating in the Italian Astronomy Olympiad.
- October 2020 – XXV International Astronomical Olympiads 2020, over 200 participants from over 20 nations around the world who will compete for a week in the final race.
- Academic Year 2019/2020, first edition of the 2nd level University Master's Degree in “Space Economy”, organized with UNIBAS, with the aim of training experts with specific management skills, capable of effectively combining and integrating – in a national, European and international context – the economic-financial, managerial, technological, legal-institutional and international relations management aspects, in organizations operating in the "Space Economy", as well as developing technology transfer and capacity building actions to facilitate the use of advanced technologies in large and medium-small sized companies.
- Starting an R&D project “ALIEn Advanced Laboratory for Innovative Education”, co-funded by the Ministry of Economic Development, to test new services and new methods of producing and delivering digital content for teaching in innovative learning environments equipped with advanced technological resources for film and TV production, AR/VR, 3D production, and holograms. A Smart Factory as a physical and virtual space with remote access capabilities thanks to the integrated use of information and communication technologies (satellite/fiber/5G).
During the visit, the President of SAIt, Prof. Roberto Buonanno, confirmed to President Saccoccia the program promoted by SAIt and Openet, which sees them engaged in the creation and promotion of cultural initiatives aimed at young people for scientific dissemination and, which for the current year has determined the title of “Matera Città dell’Astronomia 2020”, of which the Exhibition is the first step.
President Saccoccia, sharing the guidelines of this program and reaffirming the collaboration already expressed for the Exhibition, confirmed ASI's availability to ensure the success of the initiatives, considering the challenges facing the Italian research system.
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