On April 14, the «EDAPS» Consortium was visited by a delegation of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine led by its President Borys Paton. The delegation also included Anatolii Shpak, First Vice-President of NAS of Ukraine, academician; Anton Naumovets, Vice-President of NAS of Ukraine, academician; Vitalii Pokhodenko, Vice-President of NAS of Ukraine, academician; Anatolii Zahorodnii, Chief Scientific Secretary of NAS of Ukraine, academician; Vadym Loktev, Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physics and Astronomy of NAS of Ukraine, academician; V. Bohdanov — Head of the Scientific and Organizational Department; Volodymyr Machulin — Member of the Presidium of NAS of Ukraine, academician.
NAS of Ukraine, in the person of the International Center «Institute of Applied Optics», is the founder of the Specialized Enterprise «Holography», which is one of the flagships of the enterprises belonging to the «EDAPS» Consortium. Moreover, ten years ago Borys Paton himself opened the Specialized Enterprise «Holography». And today this enterprise is among the top three world leaders in the production of security holograms.
The entire elite of Ukrainian science at one of the largest high-tech enterprises in Ukraine was met by members of the Board of Directors of the «EDAPS» Consortium Heorhii Beilin and Serhii Hryshyn, as well as managers and specialists of the Consortium's enterprises.
An excursion of the high-tech enterprises of the «EDAPS» Consortium was organized for the Ukrainian scientists: Specialized Enterprise «Holography» (production of holographic security elements), the «Znak» plant (production of plastic cards and document forms), the State Center for Personalization of Documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the company «EDAPS-Laser» (a partner of the «EDAPS» Consortium, production of lasers and laser systems). Also a presentation of the electronic (biometric) passport of INTERPOL employees, developed by scientists and engineers of the «EDAPS» Consortium, was held.
During the excursion of the «EDAPS» Consortium, Borys Paton showed lively interest in the technological nuances of the operation of all the Consortium's enterprises. The President of NAS of Ukraine was shown the latest developments in the field of production of holographic security elements, plastic cards, and identification documents, including those with an electronic component. The Ukrainian scientists were particularly amazed by the achievements of the «EDAPS» Consortium in the field of developing its own equipment for the production of security holograms, polycarbonate pages (used in Ukrainian foreign passports, De Beers diamond passports, and electronic passports of INTERPOL employees), for the personalization of plastic cards and document forms, etc.
According to Paton, the production of the «EDAPS» Consortium is already practically «similar to scientific and technical instrument-making». The President of NAS of Ukraine noted the high level of production security at the Consortium's enterprises: «In the Consortium, security is set up so that one is amazed».
Representatives of the «EDAPS» Consortium proposed to further expand cooperation with NAS of Ukraine. In turn, Borys Paton proposed to develop a joint program with the «EDAPS» Consortium for cooperation with NAS of Ukraine, within the framework of which work with individual institutes of NAS in the field of development of the latest technologies, including with the use of nanotechnologies, should be provided.
«There is the Institute of Applied Optics, with which active cooperation is being conducted. But there are still many institutes that could and should be working with you. For this, it is necessary to prepare a good program and adopt it. We must together create a program, even if a framework one. And inside it, separate programs and actions with individual institutes will be developed», — said Borys Paton.
In an address to the Consortium's leaders, he also noted: «I was here 10 years ago when this enterprise was being created. Already then it was visible how truly knowledge-intensive this production is, how high-tech it is. Today you represent a truly grandiose enterprise, in which a whole range of the most modern technologies has been invested, which you need not to brag about the presence of critical technologies, but to produce products.
I want to emphasize that you, earning money, spend it on improving and developing your enterprise, your works, your developments, and not on «consumption». We were all hugely impressed that you really do not «consume», but create new things and move forward. And, finally, you have golden personnel. Unfortunately, 20 years ago, NAS of Ukraine employed 96 thousand people. Now — a little more than 40 thousand people.
And your developments, the operating equipment (and not just experimental samples), which in a number of cases in terms of performance, quality, reliability surpasses foreign analogues, says a lot. About the high level at which you work. We want to work with you. Many in NAS of Ukraine are accustomed to talking about the so-called lack of demand for science. So, here in the «EDAPS» Consortium, science is in demand and necessary. We must work together and win together.
According to Borys Paton, with the presence of such technologies, Ukraine has no reason to turn to foreign companies for help in the ID sphere: «In my opinion, foreign companies should be involved where you cannot do it yourself. But what you do yourself must be done in such a way that it corresponds to the level of foreign technologies. If this is the case, then, of course, there is no need to buy technologies abroad, because this is associated with «kickbacks» and other problems. In turn, the Ukrainian Consortium has shown that it can make its own».
Press service of the «EDAPS» Consortium
t. +38 044 593-61-44,
f. +38 044 593-61-41
www.edaps.ua
