EU Commissioner Highlights TUMO as Center of Excellence

BRUSSELS — EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas arrived in Armenia on November 18 to take part in the 8th non-official ministerial dialogue of the Eastern partnership dedicated to Research, Science and Innovation issues.

During the recent conference entitled “Spreading excellence and crossing the innovation divide” held in Brussels, the EU Commissioner shared his impressions on the visit in Armenia, press service of the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia reports.

In his speech Carlos Moedas stated: “Two weeks ago I visited Armenia for the first time and participated in the Science Ministers meeting of the Eastern Partnership countries. The meeting was the first such initiative of its kind directed towards the science development in the region.

I witnessed a phenomenon in Armenia which is worth remembering. I visited TUMO Center for Creative Technologies in Yerevan.

This center is designed for school-age children which enables them to perform experiments with digital technologies and their creativity. No child is forced to attend TUMO, however, there are queues for visiting the center. The children do not receive official certificate, instead, they are creating the package of their programs and capabilities. Children form associations by combining the art, science and their preferences. TUMO environment and technical equipment was better than the one I saw in the Silicon Valley.

All these more convinced me that excellence exists in every country. Our task, as policymakers, is to promote excellence, to reveal and support it, and make it an international center of excellence”.