The biggest Technopark in Eastern Europe, speakers from some of the world’s most successful companies, and the latest developments in virtual reality will all be on show next week at the Skolkovo innovation centre when it hosts the annual Open Innovations forum from October 26 to 28.
The Skolkovo Technopark will open its doors to the public for the first time for the Open Innovations forum. Photo: Sk.ru.
The forum, aimed at entrepreneurs, investors and representatives of business, will be attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who made transforming Russia’s economy into a science and tech innovations-based model from its current dependence on energy exports a key focus of his presidency from 2008 to 2012.
Now in its fifth year, the forum is being held at Skolkovo for the first time. To host the event, which 12,000 people are expected to attend, Skolkovo will open its vast new Technopark building – occupying 96,300 square meters – to the public for the first time.
Representatives of Twitter, Google, Amazon and Hyperloop are among the 600 speakers from all over the world due to address the forum. Panel discussion topics include artificial intelligence and smart machines, the Internet of Things and the hot topic of personalized nutrition.
On the first day of the forum, Skolkovo resident Promobot, which made international headlines earlier this year when one of its robots was reported to have escaped from the lab, will present the latest version of its friendly robots, designed to provide customers of busy places such as shopping malls with information. The third generation Promobot will be unveiled on the main stage at 3.30 pm.
The giant Technopark will feature a zone devoted to each area of the National Technology Initiative – the government’s plan to create the conditions to make Russia a global hi-tech market leader by 2035 – such as Autonet, devoted to the development of ecologically friendly unmanned vehicles, HealthNet, EnergyNet and FoodNet.
There will be also be an AR/VR (augmented and virtual reality) zone showcasing AR/VR technology solutions for medicine, entertainment, education and manufacturing.
The partner state of this year’s forum is Israel, which has been dubbed the “startup nation.” An Israeli delegation headed by the country’s science, technology and space minister, Ofir Akunis, will attend the event, speaking on subjects ranging from “the secret of Israel’s hi-tech success” to business tools for startups.
Within Open Innovations, the Malevich Fest will explore the role of new technologies in society, art and culture. The Malevich Fest will include a lecture on the Russian vanguard by Olga Sviblova, head of Moscow’s acclaimed Multimedia Art Museum, as well as screenings of “Steve Jobs: the Man in the Machine,” a documentary film devoted to the late Apple co-founder, and “Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected,” a Werner Herzog-directed documentary about how the internet has changed our lives.
The forum will also incorporate Eurasian Week, a summit of the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU): Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The Eurasian Week part of the forum will focus on high-tech exports and the formation of a network for tech production.
Open Innovations brings together Russia’s development institutes, including Russian Venture Company, Rusnano and the Foundation for the Support of Small Science and Tech Enterprises and VEB development bank. It is backed by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Science and Education Ministry, as well as by the Moscow city government.