The Second International Skolkovo Robotics Conference is to begin in the Skolkovo Hypercube on March 1. The plan is to bring together the leading international robotics experts, venture capital funds representatives, research teams, start-ups and other participants on one site.
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The largest robotics event in Russia is organised by the Skolkovo Foundation and held under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media. The list of Skolkovo Robotics partners includes the Advanced Research Foundation, the Volnoe Delo Charitable Foundation, RBC, Grishin Robotics, Intel, Autodesk, Skolkovo resident company VisionLabs, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and Open University Skolkovo.
The event’s special partner is Robot-Expo organised by ExpoCentre (Central Exhibition Complex).
“Robotics holds a priority place on the Russian Communications and Media Ministry’s list of the most promising IT development lines, which is reflected in the IT development strategy prepared by the Ministry and approved by the Russian Government at the end of 2013”, Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Media Mark Shmulevich told Sk.ru.
“Our objective goes far beyond promoting the research development in this field”, says Mark Shmulevich. “What we’ve got to do today is to draw the attention of the wider public to robotics proper. The Ministry was among the last year’s Skolkovo Robotics conference’s sponsors, and that is because we believe that cross-disciplinary events are the best when it comes to encouraging people to generate ideas and to attracting young talents into the robotics industry. It is my genuine hope that the upcoming conference will be even more helpful and informative for Russia’s robotics community”.
The 2-day agenda of the Second Skolkovo Robotics Conference includes an exposition of robotics pilot projects, followed by addresses by the conference guests and partners and by round-table discussions, which will all take place in the Hypercube on March 1. (For the tentative agenda of Skolkovo Robotics and participant registration, check the conference website: Robotics.sk.ru).
On March 2 the same venue will host robotics master classes offered by Intel, Autodesk, “Volnoe Delo” and Skolkovo participants LinTec and Trik who operate in the field of educational robotics.
“The goal of this conference is to bring as many people interested in the development of the robotics industry as possible here under one roof, and to ensure there is a productive dialogue. Such people may be customers and potential investors, businessmen, researchers, engineers, students,” says Albert Yefimov, Skolkovo Foundation’s Project Director for IT Cluster and chief robotics expert.
The first Skolkovo Robotics conference, that was held on the Skolkovo Innovation Centre premises in 2013, had researchers, business community representatives, profile experts and representatives of state authorities among its participants and was attended by 800 people, with 25 robotics teams presenting their projects and pilot designs at the Robot-Expo which was part of the conference agenda.
“The global robotics revolution is only just gathering momentum, and Russia stands a good chance of gaining a foothold in this sector,” assures Dmitry Grishin, Co-Founder and CEO of Mail.Ru Group, Founder of Grishin Robotics.
“A sound technological academic base, promising programmers, a fast-growing community of people who have a keen interest in developing robotic products and companies — these are just a few of the potential success components that we find here. It is, however, equally true that competition is growing just as fast, and the emerging market needs support. All the more thrilling it is to know that Russia has its own robotics conference - Skolkovo Robotics. The fact that it is being held for the second time is the best evidence of the growing interest in this sector — which investors, like myself, can only welcome,” said Dmitry Grishin.
Skolkovo Robotics International Conference 2014 is expected to be an even bigger event than the last year’s one; the organisers reckon for a turnout of about 1,000 guests and participants together.
It is also true, however, that Skolkovo Robotics stands out not only because of the actual scope of the event, but also in terms of its guest speaker list. This year’s list of speakers included the following people: Head of European Robotics Frank E. Schneider, Imperial College London professor Alessandro Astolfi, Robotics Institute Senior Research Scientist at Carnegie Mellon University Mel Siegel, Senior Research and Development Engineer at 3D Robotics Brandon Basso.
The Russian robotics industry is to be represented by a Bauman Moscow State Technical University professor Arkady S. Yushchenko, senior researcher at the Keldysh Institute for Problems in Mechanics Vladimir Ye. Pavlovsky, Deputy Director of the Russian EMERCOM Scientific Research Institute of Fire Protection Sergey G. Tsarichenko and other experts.
“We particularly hope that experts representing both technical and humanitarian fields will find this event interesting; after all, one of the cornerstone issues governing the development of robotics is the interaction between robots and humans. And that is where engineers will find advice from psychologists and sociologist most handy”, Albert Yefimov concluded.
Registration for the Skolkovo Robotics International Conference 2014 has been opened (to register follow: http://robotics.timepad.ru/event/96921/). Only registered participants will be able to take part.