The Skolkovo Foundation signed the MOU with Shimadzu Corporation, Japanese manufacturer of precision instruments, measuring instruments and medical equipment.
The MOU was signed by Vasily Belov, Senior Vice-President for Innovations of the Skolkovo Foundation, and Tomonobu Sekoguchi, Chief Representative of Shimadzu Europa GmbH. Shimadzu will become the first key partner of the Foundation from Japan.
The co-operative activity of the Skolkovo Foundation and Shumadzu will continue to form the values of the innovation ecosystem at an international level. It will concentrate on raising the level of integration of Russian innovative companies into the global innovation community. Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) will actively cooperate with Shimadzu and will provide its research and education facilities for joint research.
Shimadzu will consider establishment of an R&D center at the Skolkovo site. The key directions of co-operative research will include:
Vasily Belov, Senior Vice-President for Innovations of the Skolkovo Foundation: “We welcome the R&D cooperation with Shimadzu. Russia is actively working on development of R&D for pharmaceuticals industry and medical sciences. I am sure that for Shimadzu, as for other foreign partner companies, cooperation with the Skolkovo Foundation is not only an active exchange of ideas and practices. It opens wide possibilities for work at the Russian market to our foreign partners”.
Tomonobu Sekoguchi, Chief Representative of Shimadzu Europa GmbH: “I’ve been working in Russia for more than four years. I remember how a few years ago I was very enthusiastic about the creation of the Innovation Center and I am happy that this is the moment when I am here at Skolkovo and we are signing this agreement. Our company is more than one hundred years old and we are successfully developing our key product – electronic measuring equipment, which is widely used in Japan. I am sure that together we can create something new, to create innovative products”.
Kirill Kaem, Executive Director of Biomedical Technologies Cluster of Skolkovo Foundation: “I see a few opportunities for the development of our cooperation. Firstly, these are scientific research executed by Shimadzu – and in Skolkovo they will have perfect conditions to carry out their research. Secondly, while working in Skolkovo Shimadzu will be able to use its equipment and to commercialize its products. Moreover, the company will be able to take part in the educational programs of Skolkovo. We will work together educating people and thus creating innovation ecosystem.”
About Shimadzu Corporation
Shimadzu was founded in 1875. The headquarters of the company is situated in Kyoto. The total number of employees is approximately 10 400. The company specializes in the development of new research methods of materials and systems and equipment production. The production facilities of Shimadzu are situated in Japan, the US, Great Britain, Australia, South Korea and Vietnam. The R&D centers are located in Japan and the US. In Russia Shimadzu has representative offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vladivostok. In 2002 Koichi Tanaka, an employee of Shimadzu, was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
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