Attending the presentation of the first annual report of the Skolkovo Foundation in Moscow yesterday, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called for more active efforts to encourage foreign partners to take part in Skolkovo, the state-sponsored innovation hub under construction near Moscow.
The project is “not about building some kind of innovation paradise separate from the rest of the country,” the president reminded, acknowledging this common criticism regarding Skolkovo. “The idea is to set the right example, and to help attract to Russia serious strategic investment for our big research centers and for the industry that will help to develop and use the new products and technology that come out of Skolkovo. This is a task for our whole country to get involved in.”
“Incidentally,” noted the president, “more than half of the projects approved so far are not from Moscow but from the regions, and this is good to see.”
The president noted that no “legally binding documents on cooperation and participation by [foreign] partners in specific projects” have yet been seen, in spite of “various agreements and memorandums [of intent] with big foreign corporations, research and development centres, and educational institutions.”
A 40% brand awareness
Mr Medvedev also called for “increased information support” for the innovation hub. According to him, “only around 40 percent of our people have much idea of what Skolkovo is about,” which is a “very small figure given the project’s scale and importance.”
“Skolkovo is not some kind of closed club, but is a public project, and one that will ultimately be the driving force behind our entire modernization effort.” Information must be “completely open and public,” the president insisted.
Awareness of the project is also “insufficient” abroad. “The goal is to make Skolkovo one of Russia’s most recognizable and best known brands,” stated the president.
Regarding intellectual property rights protection, Mr Medvedev proposed to “establish a special court within our arbitration court system, and have it located at Skolkovo.”
More integration with research
Answering the president’s criticism, Craig Barett, co-chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation Council, complained that the Ministry of Science did not offer enough help to establish relations with scientific circles.
Mr Medvedev asked Science minister Andrey Fursenko to “work, not sleep.”
Mr Barrett also said that a 40% brand awareness was not such a bad result—with which the president finally agreed—especially considering that it has been reached with practically no marketing investment.
Esko Aho, executive vice president of Nokia and member of the Skolkovo Foundation Council, suggested the president hold firm and be patient as is necessary in any undertaking of this scale.
Viktor Vekselberg, president of the Skolkovo Foundation, said that 275 companies had applied to participate in Skolkovo, including 40 which have already been registered.
Vekselberg expects a dozen of memorandums to be signed in 2011 with foreign and Russian companies, in addition to the 12 existing ones. He also underlined the importance of some of the currently planned projects. Among them is a research center with IBM which will employ up to 150 people.
Sources: Kremlin press service, Vedomosti
