Presented as the brainchild of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) has appeared on the scene as a major element in Russia’s state sponsored innovation policy. Though making its fist public debut only three weeks ago, the project appears to have been duly prepared, as witnessed by the agency’s brand new website and hotline already offering key executive positions.
In his speech at a United Russia party meeting in Volgograd on May 6, the Prime Minister presented the agency as “a platform to work with successful people who bring new ideas,” aiming at “correcting social and industrial policies” as well as “promoting new people in business, public administration and politics.”
In line with this speech, the agency’s website announces three directions, namely “New business,” to assist young entrepreneurs and lift barriers to the development of mid-sized businesses, “Young professionals,” to create new systems of professional qualifications and standards, and “Social projects,” to support the projects of socially-oriented institutions, including NGOs.
The agency has taken the form of an “autonomous non commercial organization,” one of the non-profit and non-governmental statuses existing under Russian legislation. Officials have not ruled out, however, that ASI could later switch to another form, more integrated with the state.
Since Putin announced it, the agency’s role and importance have been subject to a flurry of comments and interpretations.
An insider from a presidential innovation body, cited by Russian business daily Kommersant, said ASI will act as “civil DARPA” and become “the main institution in the Russian innovation system.”
DARPA, the US Department of Defense response to the successes the Soviet space program set up in 1958, has since been responsible for funding the development of many important civil technologies, including key elements of the Internet.
“Presidential initiatives, Skolkovo in particular, will be relegated to a secondary position. All innovation-related regulatory and financial streams will be channeled to the new agency by 2012, as the funds and functions of government agencies will be redefined before the presidential elections,” Kommersant’s source added.
The Skolkovo project, launched last year on President Medvedev’s initiative, aims to build a world-class innovation hub near Moscow.
Courting mid-sized businesses to prepare the elections?
Putin’s initiative has also been interpreted as part of an effort to consolidate support around Putin, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections, in December 2011 and March 2012 respectively. Mid-sized businesses have been identified as a major source of donation to alternative political forces, including the Communist Party, noted The Moscow Times.
At the official opening presentation of ASI yesterday, however, the Prime Minister called on the public to “not to seek any political subtext” in his initiative and not to consider it as “stepping on anyone’s foot,” reported Russian daily RBC.
“Skolkovo is a good project coming at the right time,” Putin said. It will be “harmoniously complemented” by the new agency, which aims at building a network all over the country.
The Prime Minister sees ASI as an interface “between mid-sized businesses and financial institutions,” which have not worked together sufficiently until now.
As a possible reflection of the agency’s orientations, 23 representatives of innovative Russian companies were invited to the presentation. Among them were Splat, a toothpaste producer who successfully resisted P&G and Colgate on the domestic market, Abbyy, a world renowned software publisher, and Polyplastic, a world-class plastic pipes maker.
Not only will mid-sized businesses have greater access to financing, said an unnamed source close to the Prime Minister to RBC, such enterprises will receive support in conflicts with bureaucracy. “ASI will provide them with direct access to Putin. First, the agency will help individual companies, and then it will bring a blow to the whole system.”
“Skolkovo is an elevator for projects; the agency – for people,” the source summarized.
The unnamed source remained vague regarding financing. In its initial stage, ASI should employ no more than 50 people and require just 100 million rubles, approximately $3.5 million to run. The agency would expect philanthropic donations, not state budget allocation or subscription fees, as the primary source of financing.
