Cyprus has officially applied to become a member of the European Space Agency, Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Nicodemos Damianou has revealed.
He was addressing an event to celebrate five years of operation of the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence in Limassol, which as he noted, can become a regional hub to observe the Earth and for space applications.
Speaking on the evening of 27 May, Damianou said that research and innovation, technology and entrepreneurship are much more than mere policy pillars, they are "catalysts for prosperity, resilience and national progress."
This, he noted, is the philosophy behind strategic decisions of the Deputy Ministry "to cultivate an ecosystem where bold ideas result in a sustainable result and where Cyprus is at the front line of European and world innovation."
Cyprus, Damianou said, is among the 40 top ecosystems for start-ups in the world having made the greatest progress among EU countries for the second consecutive year. He added that Cyprus has been awarded funding of over 300 mln euro until today in the framework of "Horizon 2020", while it is included as a "Strong Innovator" in the European Innovation Results Board, recording an increase of 39% in innovation output since 2017.
Referring to "Eratosthenes" he said that the centre has the capability of becoming a regional hub for earth observation applications and space applications, adding that "with over 40 innovative research projects and 15 million euro drawn from competitive funding, the centre has attracted specialised researchers, has cultivated many promising talents and has produced work which has received scientific recognition as is reflected in the ScholarGPS Analytics rankings."
Enhancing cooperation with the ESA has been crucial in achieving our goals, Damianou pointed out, and added that efforts are underway to fast-track the industry's growth capabilities, while Cyprus has submitted an official request to join ESA.
(Source: CNA)
