Snowbound Siberian outpost aims for Silicon-Valley status

Tomsk, Russia — If there were ever a place for a cutting-edge innovation hub, this snowbound Siberian outpost with a population of 500,000 probably wouldn’t be the first choice.

Deep in the Russian hinterland, it stands at the dead end of a train line off the Trans-Siberian railway. Its airport services only Moscow, a few other Russian cities and a small handful of foreign charter flights. Local business isn’t exactly booming. It does have one thing, however: smart people, lots of them.