The Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and infrastructures said on Wednesday that the Government of the Azores will only support research projects that result in capital gains and added value to the Region.
José Contente launched again a challenge to the University of the Azores and other institutions that contribute to the funding of research projects so that “they may have a clear understanding that it is time to invest in research with economic return. It is time to support research projects that bring economic success and promote the sustainable development of the region.”
The challenge is, therefore, to combine scientific research with the business sector by enhancing the natural resources and potentialities of the archipelago, which will result resulting in economic growth associated with knowledge.
“We will attach special importance to research undertaken in a business context as well as to the scientific research projects that contribute to the sustainable development in the Region,” said José Contente.
The Regional Secretary spoke after signing a service provision contract to design vectorial maps at a scale of 1:5000 on the island of Pico and emphasised the strong investment of the Azorean Government in the development of cartography on all islands.
The Government has been undertaking a considerable effort in the field of cartography since 2004 with the launch of aerophotogrammetric flights across the archipelago to draw up a vectorial cartography at a scale of 1:5000, increasingly specialised and detailed, which “contributes to spatial planning, the civil protection services, the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry and to municipalities as a modern spatial planning tool for the Region,” stated José Contente.
Since then, there have been considerable developments resulting from the application of these flights, with the implementation of orthophotos of the Region, which have been used by several regional entities to develop their activities.
In addition to the orthophotos, several partnerships have been established to design vectorial maps at the scale of 1:5000, having already been completed the cartography of the island of São Miguel. The Government has also launched public call for tenders for designing maps on other islands, including Santa Maria, Corvo, Graciosa and now the island of Pico.
The orthophotos were partially subsidised by Community funds, as well as the flights made in 2004-2008, corresponding to an investment of 365 thousand Euros whilst 200 thousand Euros were invested in the area of cartography.
The Regional Secretary reiterated the promotion of cartography as a base tool which also includes other Community programmes and directives from the Inspire directive, “which comprises all mapping information we provide to citizens,” to the recently launched SIGENDA.
Currently, the Azorean Government is starting a new aerophotogrammetric coverage of the Azores to update all the information described and to draw up vectorial maps on the islands where it is not available yet.
The first flight, whose investment was around 60,000 Euros, took place on Terceira Island, which will be followed by the island of São Miguel with an already scheduled flight.
José Contente also stressed the decisive contribution of REPRAA - Permanent Station Network of the Azores - to support cartographic works which also represents an investment in the region of around 200 000 Euros. These stations provide georeferenced information to a group of technicians working in the area of topography, who need accurate and efficient information.
Moreover, the Regional Secretary reminded that the countries and regions that have promoted the cartographic development are in the forefront of new European projects such as the Galileo, adding that the maps of the Azores are already included in Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth.