International Satellite Navigation Forum and Exhibition Navitech’2013 Opened
The 7th edition of the International Satellite Navigation Forum and the 5th International Exhibition for Navigation Systems, Technologies and Services Navitech’2013 have begun at Expocentre Fairgrounds.
The exhibition is organized by Expocentre ZAO and the organizer of the Forum is Professional Conferences OOO and GLONASS/GNSS-Forum. The project is implemented with support from the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Moscow City Government and Non-profit Partnership for Development and Use of Navigation Technologies (GLONASS Union).
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The central event of the year for satellite navigation technologies and the Russian satellite navigation system GLONASS in the first place was opened by Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Addressing the audience in his opening remarks he stressed that Russia, being the largest country in the world, urgently needs its own navigation system.
He said: ‘With its own navigation system in place, the nation has the unique opportunity to ensure its sovereignty and independence. The ability to control a signal for precise positioning is, essentially, a matter of national security. And yet, while developing defense technologies, we must think of how we could make commercial use of brilliant ideas produced at military R&D institutes for the benefit of our society’.
Mr Rogozin added that nowadays the status of a great spacefaring nation must rest on pragmatism, the ability to maximize profit from existing unique projects.
On behalf of the European Space Agency, the delegates were welcomed by Rene Pischel, Head of Permanent Representative Office of the Agency in the Russian Federation. He said that currently it is only the USA, Russia, Europe, China, India and Japan that are really developing satnav systems, and Russia is one of the established leaders in this field.
Speaking at the plenary session of the Forum, Vitaly Davydov, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, stated that the GLONASS system in its current form is the second major in the world, with characteristics that are comparable to those of GPS. He added that now almost all designers and manufacturers of navigation equipment make GLONASS available as a feature in their products. The Russian Federal Space Agency’s objective is to make GLONASS a key element of the global navigation system and ensure its effective use throughout the world. Mr Davydov said: ‘We are already interacting with over 40 countries and most of them have already agreed in principle to locate our stations on their territory.
A detailed review of the prospects for the Russian navigation market was provided by Aleksandr Gurko, President of NP GLONASS, in his speech. According to the data he quoted, the navigation market in Russia doubled between 2010 and 2012 and now it is worth about 15 billion rubles. Forecasts say that with the development of technology the Russian navigation market will be growing much faster and will be worth 300 billion rubles by 2020’.
Igor Levitin, an aide to the Russian President, spoke about the development of cooperation in using GLONASS in the Customs Union, EurAsEs and the CIS countries.
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The programme of the 7th International Satellite Navigation Forum covers all spheres of application of navigation systems in Russia and the world. It is planned that more than a hundred lectures will be made by experts from Russia and other countries, officials from sectoral ministries and agencies, private companies and international organizations.
Navitech’2013 will showcase the newest satellite navigation equipment, transport navigation and information systems, navigation technologies for land management, and design and construction, as well as vehicle and personal navigation equipment, LBS services, and professional navigation equipment, units and components.
This year the exhibition will be located on the show floor of 1 500 sq. m and will welcome 80 companies and enterprises from 8 countries including Belarus, Israel, Canada, China, Lithuania, Russia, the USA and Ukraine.
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Expocentre ZAO