Kyrgyzstani delegates visited New Bedford Research & Robotics. Here's why they were here.
NEW BEDFORD — In pursuit of insights that can benefit their businesses and country, a group of delegates from the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan paid a visit to New Bedford Research & Robotics (NBRR) headquarters on Purchase Street Wednesday. It was one stop on a tour of a number of sites around the U.S. deemed by the Department of State to be at the forefront of tech industry.
According to NBRR founder and leader Mark Parsons, the U.S. Department of State was familiar with his work through past governmental collaboration, and apparently found NBRR a good fit for the delegation.
"Because the U.N. had asked me to be a U.S. speaker when I go overseas, I guess I was on their list," Parsons said. "It's really exciting that we were on their radar."
New Bedford trip provided ideas on Kyrgyzstani collaboration
While delegates found the robotic fabricators and other advanced technologies impressive, it was the overall philosophy of NBRR that seemed to inspire them the most, as they seek to increase Kyrgyzstan's level of "social entrepreneurship."
"I think it will help our entrepreneurs, our economy, to bring fresh air, fresh ideas and motivation to keep doing this kind of work in our country," said delegate Mirbek Asangariev, Association of Social Entrepreneurs chairman. "These technologies ... are an ocean of opportunities for human beings who are creative, who think out-of-box, and my country is not rich in natural resources. We rely on human beings, our brains, our enthusiasm, our creativity."
As described by Parsons, NBRR's concept is based on the idea of cultivating an "ecosystem" that includes corporations, small businesses, students, researchers and artists, all brought together under one roof to mutually benefit one another.
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"I see here how they use small [versions] of very big, automated smart robots to teach students and it is a very good model for my country," Asangariev said, as middle school students from Our Sisters' School were on site speaking with delegates about skills they've learned through their school's partnership with NBRR. "At a young age, they can touch it [the technology] and understand how it works, which is very important for young brains. It's a very smart approach."
Youth empowerment is key to Kyrgyzstan's future
Given the county's demographics, the importance of empowering youth is especially emphasized in Kyrgyzstan, explained delegate Nurlan Kalybekov, sales manager for software/web developer Pricer Bishkek, LLC.
"Our country is known for young, skilled people. Around 60% of the population is under 35 years old — that means something," Kalybekov said. "We [Pricer Bishkek] also understand since we are the only Japanese [IT company in Kyrgyzstan] we have to contribute to society as well, because we are kind of a bridge between Japan and Kyrgyzstan."
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Besides Asangariev and Kalybekov, the four-person delegation included Nursultan Bekmurzaev, founder of content creation company Ala-Toons; and Iskenderbek Samarbek Uulu, founder of U! Skillz, a group of companies that deal in technology education, IT product development and more.
'Blue economy' makes an impression
Eben Franks, director of prototyping and instrumentation for Littoral Power Systems, Inc./LPS-Hydro Solutions — one of NBRR's current high-tech tenants — was on-site to talk about his company's role in the realm of hydroelectricity, considered part of the ocean- and freshwater-based "blue economy." As part of his information-sharing, Franks showed delegates a miniature version of a wave energy conversion machine currently in development.
"Our visitors from Kyrgyzstan were very interested in what LPS-Hydro Solutions can do for their country's economic development and energy security," Franks said. "There is immense potential for development of hydropower within Kyrgyzstan — it is estimated that only a few percent of the potential resource has thus far been developed."
New Bedford youth empowered as well
Our Sisters' School STEM teacher Tobey Eugenio, who is also an NBRR board member, said Kyrgyzstanis aren't the only youth who will benefit from Wednesday's event. Since NBRR started up last year, Our Sisters' School has participated in programming to give students of the all-girl middle school experience with robotics and related technology.
"A visit like this just amplifies the impact of this partnership for our kids," Eugenio said. "We were talking about some of the projects we've done ... which is so important, because by the youth talking about what they've done themselves, they recognize they have the capacity to explain and share that with someone else, and that just gives them more understanding about their place in our world."
"I said to the OSS students: do you realize that by talking about these things today, you are changing the shape of the world?," said Parsons. "You are influencing people who want to benefit society a half-a-world away. You, as eighth graders in New Bedford, are doing this. How unbelievable is that?"
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Other student-geared programming at NBRR includes partnerships with UMass Dartmouth and New Bedford High School, as well as an internship program.
Is this the start of a Kyrgyzstan-New Bedford relationship?
After the delegates left to head to their next stops in Boston, and then Cleveland and Akron, Ohio in the coming days, Parsons said there was an expressed interest in partnering with NBRR to bring a similar model to Kyrgyzstan.
"Whether we literally do that or play more of a supportive role, who knows?," Parsons said. "But this is how you plant seeds."
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: NBRR shows Kyrgyzstani delegates around robotics lab
