Cisco to develop “Virtual Skolkovo”

Cisco and the Skolkovo Foundation in February 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. It 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'.

Fund Skolkovo and Nokia Siemens Networks Will Sign Memorandum of Intent

On the eve of the signing of a Memorandum of Intent between the Skolkovo Fund and Nokia Siemens Networks there will be a press conference, which will be attended by the President of Fund Skolkovo  Viktor Vekselberg and Director on operating interaction with clients, a member of the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks Bosco Novak. 
The event will be held at Monday, January 24 2011.

Presentation Of Skolkovo At Asian Financial Forum In Hong Kong

As part of the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong there was a presentation of the Innovation Center Skolkovo. 


Head of Department for International Development of the Fund Skolkovo Alexei Sitnikov in the thematic session on innovation, described the activities of the Centre. He stressed that participants of Skolkovo can be not only Russian but also foreign companies including Asia-Pacific region. 


Fund Skolkovo's representative said that private investment will be involved at all stages of the innovation process - from creating ideas to running it in production. 


"Representatives of the Asian investment companies that were present at this Forum were of potential interest to the Innovation Center Skolkovo. To acquaint the participants of the Forum with the conditions and plans of the Center we have organized an information stand Skolkovo", - said Alexei Sitnikov. 


Asian Financial Forum (AFF) is held every year in Hong Kong and is a unique educational platform for financiers and investors. This year's forum brought together over 1600 participants from all over the world, among them - there are representatives of major financial corporations and state organizations, economists and financial analysts.

IBM is Ready To Create"Smart City" In Skolkovo

IBM Corporation has intention to cooperate with the innovation center Skolkovo with the project "smart city," Sales director of IBM in Eastern Europe, Andrei Tikhonov said.


One of the main directions of IBM cooperation with Skolkovo is the project "smart city," said Tikhonov on the sidelines of the All-Russian Innovation Forum "Russia! Forward!". This project was implemented by IBM in several major cities around the world. It is associated with reconstruction and modernization of urban infrastructure with radically new features and security services.


At the heart of a "smart city" there are, in particular, energy-efficient technologies.


According to the experts, Skolkovo in this respect is a very interesting target for innovation, thus it is being creating from scratch. The advantage of the newly created city is that "smart" infrastructure will not have to be build in existing urban complex, and it will be possible to apply the latest technology, said Tikhonov.


"We are working on various options for cooperation, including considering the possibility of accommodation in Skolkovo labs for software development" - he added.


Corporation IBM is one of the world's largest manufacturers of home computers, peripherals and software.

Intel Cooperation Agreement With Skolkovo

Fund Skolkovo and Intel Corporation signed Cooperation agreement on a number of target areas related to research and development, peer support for the development of effective institutions, as well as international promotion of Skolkovo.

In a festive atmosphere memorandum was signed by the President of the Fund Skolkovo Viktor Vekselberg and vice president of Sales and Marketing Group, General Manager of Operations in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) of Intel Corporation Christian Morales.

In cooperation with Skolkovo Intel will focus on various innovative developments, including the cloud, leveraging multi-core and parallel, the development of mobile platforms MeeGo. Intel also will support the assessment of projects and setting up joint laboratories with leading universities of the country. Intel will take an active part in the project Skolkovo. 


«Intel Innovation Center will be the conductor for Skolkovo into the world of the latest developments in information systems and technologies, - said President of Skolkovo Viktor Vekselberg. - Participation of corporations in the creation of a research laboratory and pilot testing center in Skolkovo will be an anchor for attracting innovators in our project. "


«Intel is a great example of how cutting-edge scientific advances can be made into very serious money. In Russia, we are deservedly recognized experts in their field, - said director general of research and development for Intel in Russia and CIS Kamil Isaev. - Participation in the project Skolkovo for us is a great opportunity to help domestic research projects to market. Russian scientists do not yet have significant experience in building successful business and we can help them. "

Denmark's Companies Cooperation With Skolkovo Progect

On December 6, 2010 President of the Fund Skolkovo Viktor Vekselberg and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark Risdal Tom Jensen discussed the model of interaction of Skolkovo with leading research organizations and companies in Denmark, particularly in the area of energy efficiency and construction of "Green Houses" in Skolkovo.


Following the meeting, Viktor Vekselberg, said that  "This will, in fact, be the first house built in Skolkovo. Implementation of this project is a continuation of the agreements reached by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in his April visit to Denmark. Our goal is to create an educational center, which will have character of a certain promotion of energy saving for the end user, as well as a platform for interaction with the Russian companies involved in urban development to extend further this experience" - he stressed.


Ambassador of Denmark in Russia noted that the Danish Government and the companies want to continue cooperation with the innovation center Skolkovo regarding the establishment of research centers. "On our part, we consider this project as one of the most important, not only in terms of participation of companies, but the Danish Government". 


"Denmark 30 years worked on a program of Energy Efficiency and conservation since the energy crisis in 1973. Therefore, our country has a vast experience in such projects, and we are willing to share technology with Russia and the strategic foundation of the question, "- said Tom Jensen Risdal. In addition, the Ambassador said, Denmark has successful experience in conducting public campaigns to promote the rational and careful attitude to the power of the population, which can also be useful for Russia.

Foreign Experts In Skolkovo Are Not Required To Speak Russian

Foreign experts, who will work in Skolkovo, will not require knowledge of Russian. These will be the charge of translators.

Skolkovo will be a specially designated area in the suburbs of Moscow with special conditions for research and development on energy efficiency and conservation, including innovative energy technologies, nuclear technology, space technology, especially in telecommunications and navigation systems, medical and computer software technologies.

"Foreign specialists who will work in Skolkovo, will not be required knowledge of Russian language. These will be the charge of translators ", - said Konstantin Romodanovsky, adding that these specialists are first of all required to have scientific knowledge.

He added that currently creates favorable conditions for attraction in the project scientists and highly skilled professionals from abroad.

British Business In Russia

Britain is one of the most important business partners of Russia. According to all available statistics, the UK surely ranks among the top four foreign investors. According to the volume of direct investments and securities Britain shares with Germany and Switzerland in second place, giving way to the U.S. A.

The biggest UK companies are in key sectors including energy, telecommunications, banking, trade and consumer goods, giving long-term commitment to the Russian market.Despite the economic difficulties the British companies continue trade and investment activity in Russia. It has a wide spectrum: from the supply of mining equipment to the sale of children's clothes, they work closely with local partners.

Obviously, in the interests of both countries, Russia and Britain, the volume of trade and investment must grow. For Russia, the UK business is a source of investment and expertise that can make a valuable contribution to reforming and reviving the economy. Britain is also a growing export market for Russian firms. For British companies Russia is potentially a huge market close to the UK.

In the Russian market operate a large number of British companies. Among them, for example are: "British Petroleum", "Rolls-Royce, British Nuclear Fuels", "Cadbury Schweppes".

In recent years British businessmen show interest to the region. Particularly noticeable their presence is in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg.The British are very carefully watching the development of the financial situation in Russia.

Foreign Relations of St. Petersburg and the UK, for example, are characterized by steady growth. British firms are among the largest investors in the economy of St. Petersburg (4 place after the USA, Finland, Austria).

Throughout Russia British companies are representing a wide range of industries. The UK remains among the biggest investors in the Russian market. Recent financial and economic problems hinder the work of British companies in Russia, but most have not lost confidence in the fact that the Russian market remains difficult and promising in its development is still worth investing capabilities.

The British government will make efforts for British business in Russia could develope, but Russia itself should able to catch up with world standards of business due to WTO accession.

The latter said Vince Cable, the British Minister of State for Business who visited Moscow on Nov. 25, 2010.

UK companies show interest in the innovation project Skolkovo. As reported by Interfax, the great interest of a number of British firms to participate in this project was discussed at a meeting of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and British Prime Minister David Cameron in November 2010.

A source in the delegation of the British prime minister told reporters that during the meeting voiced the following phrase: "despite the desire of England to create a similar object, a number of British companies have expressed their desire to participate in the construction of this progect Scolkovo in Russia."

Earlier, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that in east London there will be created an analogue of the U.S Silicon Valley  - a cluster that brings together the giants of IT-industry.

Microsoft Will Invest In Skolkovo Fund

Microsoft will initially invest in Skolkovo tens million dollars a year. Executive officer Steve Ballmer told reporters last week in Moscow .

Fund Skolkovo and U.S. company Microsoft signed a memorandum of understanding to the beginning of cooperation between the innovation center and the software giant. This document was signed by Steve Ballmer and president of Skolkovo Fund Viktor Vekselberg.

It is planned to create items platforms of Technical Computing (new initiative to create a large-scale solutions in the field of data processing for research, engineering, data analysis and experimental modeling) and Microsoft Business Solutions (business applications).

Microsoft also plans to engage on the basis of Skolkovo implementation of promising research projects in cooperation with Russian and foreign universities and research organizations, to expand the program of assistance to the Russian innovative start-ups, to establish a technology center to provide access to information technology in Skolkovo and support the creation of University of Technology.

S. Ballmer noted that the key point of investigations should be cloud computing, which allow users of different levels of access to information anytime, anywhere. "We live in a time of great hope, when there are opportunities for convergence of technologies and innovations that result will create new ways of sharing information," - he said.

Under the agreement, the corporation intends to provide its own financial support for start-up companies in the implementation of the most promising ideas in their early stages. 


S. Ballmer noted that the Russian market for Microsoft is strategically important. "Russian IT-market is growing rapidly. For several years, we expect that it will double. In coming years, the corporation plans to sell in Russia 1 million computers with software of Microsoft", - said the head of the company. However, he pointed out that in terms of technology and innovation in the Russian Federation there is a "fantastic opportunity". 


President of Skolkovo Viktor Vekselberg, said: "We are pleased to welcome such a large IT-player like Microsoft as a project participant in Skolkovo. The vast experience of the corporation as to create innovative IT-products and solutions, as well as in organizing and supporting research and well as her knowledge and skill to create an innovation ecosystem will be very useful for the development of Skolkovo."


V. Vekselberg also said that in the near future may be signed contracts with several major companies. "Russia's level of mathematical background is very high and we are going to companies that see here, especially human resources. Among the companies with which we expect shortly to sign the agreement are Nokia and Intel". 

Dmitry Medvedev And Arnold Schwarzenegger Went To Skolkovo

ITAR-TASS: the Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger is sure that Russian scientists with the support of  American colleagues will be able to perform at the innovation center Skolkovo technological breakthrough.
During today's meeting, Schwarzenegger and Medvedev discussed the possibility of cooperation. This subject they have already touched on during a meeting in the U.S., when the Russian president committed a study tour to Silicon Valley.Schwarzenegger recalled that he then said "I'll be back!" - Like his hero from the movie "Terminator." "So I came back," - said Schwarzenegger. Along with him a large group of American businessmen came to Russia.

In Skolkovo Medvedev and Schwarzenegger will meet with the heads of American and Russian investment companies. "I am convinced that Russian scientists are engaged in innovative designs, backed by U.S. colleagues can work wonders to create the technology boom," - ITAR-TASS reports the words of Schwarzenegger.

Medvedev, in turn, congratulated Schwarzenegger, because "California is essentially out of the budget crisis."