Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko hosted a conference with the working group in charge of analyzing the work of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus on 5 August, BelTA has learned.

The head of state pointed out that the development of the society and first of all, of the economy is impossible without science not only today but also from now on. It is how the entire world develops.

As for the domestic academic science, there were many opinions about the work of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in the past. Sometimes they were totally opposed: some evaluated the Academy positively while other ones were extremely negative. Back then the president authorized a serious revision of the work of the Academy of Sciences. With this in mind a working group was set up under the leadership of Chairman of the State Control Committee Vasily Gerasimov. The group included not only representatives of oversight agencies but a large number of other interested parties, including members of the government and the scientific community for the sake of taking an objective look at academic science and making the relevant conclusions.

Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that problems in the work of the country’s top scientific institution had been considered several times this year, however, the president believes, this conversation is far from over. This time the conference gathered top officials of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the State Committee on Science and Technology, the government, the Belarus President Administration, the Education Ministry, and certainly representatives of the working group in charge of analyzing the work of the Academy.

“Taking into account changes in the leadership of the Academy of Sciences it is necessary to work out an action plan so that our scientists could work in sync with the entire country, the economy, and the society,” the head of state advised.

Participants of the conference are expected to look into materials of the working group, which criticize the current structure of the Academy. The criticism is totally justified, the president believes.

“A lot of state assets are spent on financing scientific research and yet we don’t see proper returns. There are only individual positive results without broad assimilation into branches of the economy. It is clearly not enough today,” the president criticized.

“In individual promising areas such as unmanned aerial vehicles, electric transport, we simply go round in circles,” he continued. “The necessary competences are still not available. Advances to enable a full manufacturing cycle are not available either. Personnel training is still being organized.” However, the president noted that not only the Academy of Sciences but other agencies should also take care of such cutting-edge R&D work.

Among the problem aspects of Belarusian science Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that Belarus lags behind other countries in some cutting-edge areas. “It is necessary to accelerate. Life forces us to do it,” the head of state stressed. “Belarusian scientists should look beyond the horizon as far as possible. They should get genuinely involved in the development of extremely promising areas such as artificial intelligence, neural networks, biotechnologies. Those are buzzwords today.”

“These matters are important not only for the economy, but also for national security. To put it more bluntly, they are a matter of the future of our country, our nation, and on the whole, a matter of our survival,” the president added.

The head of state remarked that leading world economies advance thanks to continuous assimilation of results of the latest R&D work. Investments in science represent a key condition of economic stability and tenability of any state. “Certainly, we are not an exception. In this day and age it is impossible to move forward without genuine accomplishments in science,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.

At the same time the president warned it is inadvisable to participate in academic racing with large states, which are ready to shell out colossal financial resources for all kinds of research. Figuratively speaking, there is no need to advance across the entire R&D front. Instead it is necessary to focus efforts on the most promising areas of science on the basis of the scientific schools that have existed in the country for a long time. It will allow gaining an economic effect from R&D in the near future.

“Let’s utilize our capabilities. And we will be capable of a lot in the future. People have good brains. Apart from computers you don’t need anything else in order to get a lot of money today. It is a slight exaggeration but nevertheless: without oil, natural gas, and huge natural resources, expensive resources we cannot develop other areas and get good money,” the head of state said.

“As I’ve already said, we possess the most important resource: human potential. Our people are smart. They can invent and do a lot. This is why I pay close attention primarily to scientists,” the president stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that Belarus is about to begin a new five-year term and all forms of science – academic science, industry science, university science – should be intent on achieving the same results the country aims for. “It is the most important task. And all the forms should complement each other and provide a synergistic effect,” the head of state stated.

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