Cisco and the Skolkovo Foundation today unveiled further details of joint efforts under the Skolkovo Project plans to develop a “Virtual Skolkovo”. Based on the proposal from the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), Virtual Skolkovo will be a business innovation ecosystem that pushes the advantages of traditional clustering beyond physical boundaries into the virtual realm of new possibilities.
Virtual Skolkovo is founded on being:
- Community-driven by common interest, not physical proximity
- Open to borderless and global collaboration, and
- Enabled by a hybrid of communication technologies
The memorandum of understanding signed during a Cisco Telepresence meeting between Victor Vekselberg, President of Skolkovo Foundation and Mohsen Moazami, a Vice President of Cisco IBSG, outlines a three-tiered approach for Virtual Skolkovo that will look at operational collaboration for faster decision-making, creating a community from across different ecosystems, and building global alliances through a multitude of networks and exchange with international research centers, universities and economic players in various markets.
The project will culminate in a pilot business case, assessing Skolkovo-specific factors for generating innovative ventures and capital, intellectual property, partnerships and business models around research and development, as well as smart work centers and smart homes.
“I’m very happy to be accelerating our cooperation with Cisco through this MoU for Virtual Skolkovo. It’s very important that every aspect of the Skolkovo city embodies a new vision, a new approach and new technologies. Cisco’s proposal of Virtual Skolkovo which uses collaborative and virtualization technologies and business models to deliver services, first to the “virtual” and then “physical” tenants of Skolkovo will make this project a forerunner,” said Mr Vekselberg.
“Most industrial clustering in recent times has regarded technology as an industry to be attracted or supported, rather than as a catalyst for their own innovation and growth. Virtual Skolkovo is therefore a fantastic opportunity to exploit all the opportunities of the digital economy in terms of collaboration, partnerships, virtualization, and resource sharing to generate capabilities and innovation for Skolkovo city,” said Mr Moazami, Vice President of Cisco IBSG Emerging Markets and Globalization.
MoU on Virtual Skolkovo follows up a memorandum of understanding signed last June by Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers and Victor Vekselberg during President Medvedev’s visit to Ciso headquarters in San Jose, California. According to that MoU, Cisco will share with the Skolkovo Fund global best practices and expertise in the creation of innovation centers and put forward this expertise to the development of the Skolkovo Project. One of the areas of focus for Cisco and the Skolkovo project will be for Cisco to play a key role in the design of ‘Technopolis Skolkovo’.
