President Armen Sarkissian made opening remarks at the prestigious Milano Finanza Digital Week conference: we need to look into the future and develop new technologies

President Armen Sarkissian made today opening remarks at the Italian Milano Finanza Digital Week prestigious conference. The conference, which focuses on the impact of digital technologies on different economic areas, as well as artificial intelligence and cyber security, was attended by the representatives of a number of major international companies, scientific and academic circles, banking and financial institutions.

At the outset, the President spoke about Azerbaijan’s new war unleashed against Artsakh and underscored that attempts to solve the conflict through military force were doomed to failure. President Sarkissian said in particular, “Armenians will never surrender. Nagorno Karabakh will be defended by the people of the Republic of Artsakh and the entire Armenian nation.”

Then, the President spoke on the main topic of the discussions and said that it is necessary to accept that humanity has entered a new era which differs from the previous one considerably. “This is an era which I call quantum. Many things have changed dramatically. In the contemporary world it is not the oil companies which dominate but data managing companies. Part of our life has become virtual. All this has changed the entire environment. Global risks are consequences of the changing world.”

According to the President, in a changing world even pandemics become quantum. “We exchange not only information, or data but also viruses. We must accept that this situation, conditioned by the pandemic, is not the result of coronavirus or difficulties related to the changes in the world. We must accept that the world has changed that’s why today we have COVID-19,” President Sarkissian underlined. “We need to change democracy, politics, how we treat the nature, how we treat viruses, otherwise we will be compelled to face one risk after another. The conclusion is the following: it’s time to wake up and accept that this is a new world.”

Speaking about cyber security, President Sarkissian said that is should be viewed in a wider context because in the new world data and internet prevail. “Data is the new leader which should be protected and developed. Cyber security means protection of data, security, and management. Data is everywhere, in nuclear power station, in the military area. This data today is the source of our development, but at the same time, also the source of global risks.” President Sarkissian stressed the importance of a dialogue for solving any problem. “My message is clear: 30 or 40 years ago, the leaders of the world, including Soviet Union and US, understood that confrontation, creation of more nuclear weapons, more powerful missiles would not get them anywhere and would only create greater confrontation. They accepted that there was only one way to solve it – a dialogue. They conducted a dialogue, and the Berlin wall was torn down, Germany was reunited, strategic weapons were took under control. It means that dialogue is a humane way to solve any problem.”

Responding to the question related to Armenia, President Sarkissian noted that our country possess great traditions in the areas of mathematics, physics, and natural sciences. “We need to look into the future and develop new technologies. As the president of the country, who realizes that we are living in a quantum world, I believe that in this new world the individual talent is the strongest booster for development. New ideas are being developed in startups,” the President of Armenia said. “A country like Armenia will gain a lot when a presidential initiative named АТОМ (Advanced tomorrow) will kick off and bring to Armenia new technologies and artificial intelligence. There are talents in Armenia and a great desire to make all that come true.”