Innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and government officials all gather at the annual Start-up Village conference in Moscow.
The state-sponsored Skolkovo Innovation Center boosts the innovation and start-up culture in Russia. The new Russian generation of entrepreneurs and investors is gradually evolving.
Russia's journey to modernise its economy and decrease its dependence on oil and gas began when the global economic crisis exposed Russia's overreliance on natural resources. In response to the crisis, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made modernisation the centrepiece of his economic-policy agenda and the aim became to accelerate the transformation of Russia from an economy based on natural resources to one based on innovation and scientific development.
One concrete step towards the modernisation has been the establishment of the non-profit Skolkovo Foundation by the Russian Government in May 2010. The Skolkovo Foundation is a similar to the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes), which is financing innovation, research and development in Finland.
This article appeared at the Helsinki Times and can be read in full here.