The annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Skolkovo Foundation was held in the Hypercube in Skolkovo Innovation Center, on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 under the Chairmanship of Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Before the start of the meeting Dmitry Medvedev visited the unique underground electric power station “Soyuz” and travelled around the territory of the Innovation Center to see the objects under construction.
In the course of the conference the members of the Board of Trustees unanimously re-elected Dmitry Medvedev as the Chairman of the Board. The reports on the key issues of project implementation were made, including Skolkovo Innovation Center Progress Report, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology Progress Report; and Report on the Audit of the Skolkovo Foundation Activities in 2012-2013 by Regulatory and Law-Enforcement Authorities of the Russian Federation.
In his opening speech Dmitry Medvedev said: “Today we are looking at the development of the project and its results achieved this year. Overall the set aims have been reached – an innovation center for technology commercialization has been created. Skolkovo has already become a part of the global innovation system and the agreements signed today with the key partners are a good evidence for that. But what is even more important, a community of innovators has been formed. They develop high-technologies and achieve substantial business results. The state is interested in success of the project and so that the money invested in the project could be used with maximum efficiency”.
Viktor Vekselberg, the President of the Skolkovo Foundation, made a report on the results of the innovation center project implementation and outlined its key target indicators.
“The Skolkovo Foundation actively participates in the creation of the Russian innovation ecosystem. In the course of three years of Foundation’s work 12 thousand new jobs have been created, Skolkovo participant companies have made more than 450 IP applications. This year the number of large companies planning to open their R&D centers in Skolkovo doubled. Upon achieving the key targets set for the Skolkovo project for 2020, its integral contribution into the Russian economy will total 200 bn rubles”, - .the President of the Foundation
Pekka Viljakainen, Startup Advisor to the President of the Skolkovo Foundation, announced the plans for the next Startup Tour and international conference for startups and investors Startup Village, which will be held in Skolkovo in June 2-3, 2014 with the aim of contributing into the forming of the Russian innovation community and its integration in the global innovation process. The Startup Tour will be held in 26 cities of Russia in January-April 2014 and it is expected to attract 6000 participants.
Two agreements were signed between the Skolkovo Foundation and the two key partners in the in presence of Dmitry Medvedev. Thus, a set of agreements was signed between the Boeing Company, the Skolkovo Foundation, “Industrial Investors” Group and the Russian Group of Companies “TRANSAS” on establishing Skolkovo Aviation Training Center. R&D activity and engineers’ training will be carried out at the Center in order to increase air transport security. The Center is scheduled to open in 2015. The Skolkovo Foundation and Schneider Electric signed an agreement on establishing Schneider Electric R&D Center in Skolkovo, where absolutely new products for advanced management system of the electrical grid will be created and tested. It is planned that the Center will start to function in 2015 and in 2017 100 highly qualified employees, mainly Russian scientists and engineers, will work at the Center.
About the Skolkovo Foundation
The Skolkovo Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in September 2010 by the Russian government with an objective to accelerate transformation of Russia from a resource-intensive to an innovation-based economy. To achieve this objective the Foundation is overseeing the creation of the Skolkovo Innovation Center composed of companies and startups, developing innovative technologies (currently numbering over 950), a Technopark, the Skolkovo Institute of Technology (Skoltech), a new graduate research University established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Skolkovo city, located near Moscow. Together these entities will establish a vibrant ecosystem of technology innovation and entrepreneurship. 28 world’s most successful corporations, including Boeing, Cisco Systems, EADS, GE, Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Siemens, Nokia, Samsung etc. have already recognized the opportunity Skolkovo presents having signed R&D partnership agreements with the Foundation. For more information: http://www.sk.ru/en
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