Founded in 2015 near Kazan, Tatarstan — some 800 km east from Moscow, — Innopolis provides a glimpse into what technocrats within Putin’s regime hope will be the vision of a future Russia. As the government looks for ways to make the country less dependent on hydrocarbons and to build up the national tech sector, which is desperately lacking in qualified workers, techno hubs and startup corridors are being launched all over the country.
Together with two other tech clusters, Skolkovo outside Moscow and Koltsovo in Siberia, Innopolis marries the Soviet tradition of naukogrady (science towns) with the realities of 21st century tech. Unlike in the Soviet times, when state support for science was dictated by the needs of Cold War competition, the goal is far more pragmatic today — to ensure that Russia doesn’t turn into a basket case if, or when, green energy elbows out oil and gas from the world’s markets.
The tech hub comprises a smattering of neat-looking cubical tower blocks that stand on windswept hills, towering over the Volga River. The main landmark is the city university, where courses are taught in English and the curriculum is developed in partnership with Carnegie-Mellon in Pittsburgh. Innopolis is home to 3,800 people, mostly students, faculty, and employees of over 200 tech companies, ranging from little-known startups to corporate giants such as Yandex, MTS (a mobile network operator), and the fintech branch of Sberbank.
Fighting brain drain and creeping authoritarianism in Russia’s techno-utopian villageRead More
