Former Italian Interior Minister Minniti: “The future of the world lies in the Mediterranean, and we are at its centre”

Mediterranean Aerospace Matching, the first international aerospace event conceived and organised in Apulia at the Marcello Arlotta airport, will be kicking off today in Grottaglie (Taranto).

The event offers an important opportunity for major companies in the industry, start-ups, SMEs and the financial world to come together and join forces. At the 3-day event’s inaugural edition, Leonardo will be represented by Luigi Pasquali, CEO of Telespazio and Coordinator of Leonardo’s space activities, Massimo Comparini, CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia, Laurent Sissmann, Senior Vice President of Leonardo Unmanned Systems, Marco Minniti, Chairman of the Med-Or Foundation, and Luciano Violante, Chairman of the Leonardo-Civiltà delle Macchine Foundation.

At the heart of the initiative, conceived by the Aerospace Technological District (DTA) and organised by the Apulia Region in partnership, among others, with Leonardo, lies the role of Space in Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, alongside that of urban air mobility, sustainability and the space economy, smart cities and drones. In particular, demonstrations will be held, centred around the use of drones in various scenarios, so as to highlight how beneficial they can be in terms of new services.

“The future of the world lies in the Mediterranean, and we are at its centre”,

said the Chairman of the Med-Or Foundation, Marco Minniti, in his speech entitled

“Mediterranean: Innovation, Technology, and Geopolitics for new Growth opportunities. This is where three challenges are being played out, for the future of our planet. The first involves Africa and the regulation of demographic flows, which is a theme of worldwide importance. The second is the fight against terrorism to ensure security. The third concerns raw and rare materials. This is why the Mediterranean is key.” “Europe,” continued Mr Minniti, “must join forces in terms of its capacity for innovation if it doesn’t want to get left behind. Moreover, it must build a system of relations with all the Mediterranean countries. Climate and environment; food and food crisis; Space; healthcare in light of the pandemic and of the need to ensure health safety; these are the four key issues,”

concluded Mr Minniti.

“The common thread, with Italy taking a leading role, is technological innovation.”

Laurent Sissmann participated in the debate on drones as a new means of mobility for people and goods within the context of the panel discussion “Advanced Air Mobility: A New Frontier for Aerospace”. Through the presence of various industrial representatives, the technological evolution of industry worldwide was compared against the expectations of users. In particular, Sissmann focused on the areas of autonomous driving and digitisation, two challenges waiting to be met in order to develop increasingly secure, silent and green technologies. The manager also highlighted that autonomy is key to achieving wide-reaching goals, economies of scale, and process replicability for future aerospace systems.

Luciano Violante and Luigi Pasquali attended the panel discussion “Space for a Sustainable and Inclusive World”, which addressed the importance of space technologies and applications for sustainable economic development, quality of life, and the global health of people and the planet. These topics were analysed from a social, economic and environmental standpoint.