Discurso do Secretário Regional dos Assuntos Parlamentares e Europeus

1st. International Conference on Structural Integrity 01-09-2015 Assuntos Parlamentares e Europeus

Ladies and gentleman,

Firstly, on behalf of the Regional Government of Madeira, and its people, I would like to extend our warm welcome to all the participants attending this 1st International Conference on Structural Integrity.
Our special thanks to:
- European Structural Integrity Society Portuguese National Committee for choosing to sponsor this important meeting in this beautiful Island;
- INEGI for the organization and promotion of the event.
- Last, but not least, our special regards to Professor Leslie Banks-Sills, President of European Structural Integrity Society, whose presence brings a special glow to this event.
The Government of Madeira believes that Madeira has exceptional conditions for hosting international events.
Today, more than a beautiful, even inspiring, island, with a mild climate all year long, we have all the necessary facilities and infrastructures to successfully host these events.
It is curious that some of our special infrastructures, like the international airport facility, are indirect beneficiaries of the works being proposed in this meeting.
In fact, our natural conditions, namely our rough orography, led us, to adopt unconventional techniques for the design and construction of these infrastructures.
These unconventional answers pose new challenges for the maintenance and monitoring services, and are, as such, in need of innovative technical approaches like those being discussed in this forum.
As a government it is our deepest desire to carry-on these infrastructures to the following generations in spotless conditions. As such, this conference has our special attention as it may enhance our efforts in achieving this objective efficiently and effectively.
It is similarly important for us to build technical capacity in these fields as we may become an important benchmark for other wide-reaching territories.
You may not be aware of this, but we, Madeirans, do have a tradition for being technology exporters.
It has been the case with hydraulics infrastructures, such as our Levadas that were exported into places as far as Hawaii, or our sugar plant technologies, that helped drive the exploration of the new world, or, more recently, the construction techniques applied in some infrastructures that are currently replicated and studied abroad.
We hope, and believe, the maintenance and monitoring techniques being discussed here, may, once again, help us give another step forward in our tradition of innovation.
Our island has been a laboratory for many engineers and scientists throughout the five centuries since its colonization. We welcome you to preserve, and strengthen, this tradition.
Our commitment to this cause is being translated, within this conference, through a cooperation protocol between INEGI and the newly created regional department for innovation.
Our goal is to promote technology transfer between this renowned Portuguese R&D Institution, and the public and private stakeholders in Madeira, including the theme being discussed in this conference.
We are fully committed to innovation and hence we are very interested in those who practice it.
Before concluding this statement, I would like to leave you all with a small teaser:
- Why not make Madeira the permanent home of the International Conferences on Structural Integrity?
Thank you for listening. May your stay in Madeira be fruitful and productive both in terms of your work settings and personal experiences.
I hope to see you all in Madeira again, soon.

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Srape 1st. International Conference on Structural Integrity Conferência Sérgio Marques

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