A large group of managers of major technology companies from Taiwan visited the Skolkovo Foundation. The delegation, led by James Huang, Chairman of the Taiwan Council for the Development of Foreign Trade (TAITRA), was received by Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation.
This was the rerturn visit of Taiwanese entrepreneurs, and their delegation included top managers of such companies as Asus and Advantech. In January of this year the business mission from Skolkovo visited Taiwan, when it signed a cooperation agreement with the National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei and studied the work of the innovative cluster in the city of Hsinchu.
The Taiwanese business delegation in Skolkovo Techno-park. Photo: Sk.ru
During his meeting with Mr. Huang, Arkady Dvorkovich described the Skolkovo ecosystem, and invited the management of TAITRA to take part in the main events in Skolkovo, including the Open Innovations Forum this autumn. On his part, the head of the Taiwanese delegation invited Skolkovo to participate in a series of technology conferences organized by TAITRA.
The chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation Arkady Dvorkovich invited the head of TAITRA James Huang to take part in the Open Innovations Forum. Photo: Sk.ru
Nikolay Suetin, Skolkovo’s Vice President for Science and Education, who headed the Foundation’s business mission in Taiwan, told Sk.ru that in his opinion, TAITRA, was looking forward to intensifying exchanges: “They have brought companies that have development plans for Russia. After our visit to Taiwan work has picked up pace, but we understand this is not nearly fast enough. TAITRA hosts a number of large technological forums on a global level: participation of our startups in these forums would be useful, and it is great that the Taiwanese side has invited Skolkovo to these events. As we all know, Taiwan is one of the global leaders in electronics, and the fact that such companies as Asus and Advantech are here today, is very promising,” the Vice President of Skolkovo said.
Nikolay Suetin (right) and Maksim Romanov, manager of the International Department of the Foundation, converse with Chan Xi Chan, head of the Russian office of TAITRA. Photo: Sk.ru
“I hope Skolkovo will become a platform for technological exchange with these companies. If they want to become participants in the Foundation – and as far as I can tell, they do have a certain interest in our ecosystem – this is what the representative of Advantech has told me, this visit will have real consequences,” Nikolay Suetin says.
Asus Vice President Ted Xu listens to presentations by Skolkovo companies. Photo: Sk.ru.
Two Skolkovo companies, WebGears and DRD, presented their projects to the Taiwanese delegation.
DRD has developed the first ever test in the world to diagnose chronic brain ischaemia. Recently their product was registered in Russia, so it can now be introduced into various Russian clinics. The test allows the microscopic detection of damage of the brain tissue before any stroke symptoms appear, Anzhey Zhimbiev, General Director of the Skolkovo-based company told Sk.ru. This test is biochemical in nature; its principle is different from that of MRI, which is, as of today, the only objective method of detecting brain damage. The biochemical method reveals microscopic damage almost instantly, as soon as these events, (that neither the doctor, nor the patient, are able to notice,) start happening. “Our test is able to identify biochemical damage earlier and more cost effectively than present methods, especially since some microscopic damage cannot be detected by MRI,” the CEO of the company said.
James Huang: “Skolkovo is the most important engine of Russian innovations and technological development.”
Another Skolkovo-based company, WebGears, has developed the technology of representing the analytical description of 3D graphics. This approach allows the taking of heavy 3D models and making them light and accessible without any loss of detail. “We do not simplify the geometry, we do not use the flow transfer as it happens now everywhere in the world so as to make 3D accessible,” Vladimir Kiryakov, head of the Company’s Division for Industrial Solutions told Sk.ru. “We only use the material description of the surface so that we are able to take engineering data from 3D departments and use them throughout the life cycle of the engineering product.”
Anzhey Zhimbiev presents a DRD product, which was recognized by Rospatent as one of 100 best Russian inventions of 2018. Photo: Sk.ru
This product has already been introduced in Taiwan, and has become one of the practical results of Skolkovo’s business mission. The participant in the mission, Yulia Tolkishevskaya, introduced WebGears to the international department of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). “In February, then in March we started working with them, looking at various opportunities for using our technology,” Vladimir Kiryakov says. “Then, with the assistance of Skolkovo, we organized the visit of the founder and technical director of our company to the ITRI R&D Center. There we were introduced to the representatives of PMC, an organization that oversees the development of all precision engineering projects in the field of metal processing. Now we are entering the stage of signing the NDA and are considering pilot projects with ITRI and PMC.”
WebGears, Vladimir Kiryakov’s company is currently preparing to sign the NDA with their Taiwanese partners. Photo: Sk.ru
“We would very much like to work with Skolkovo so that we could facilitate bilateral cooperation between our startups,” James Huang, the head of the Taiwanese delegation, told Sk.ru. “We were very much impressed by what we saw in the Skolkovo Techno-park. As I understand, Skolkovo is the most important engine of Russian innovations and technological development. In Taiwan, we also have a well-developed ecosystem of startups and high-tech enterprises. There are world-class companies in our country, but, unfortunately, their knowledge of the Russian market in general, and of Skolkovo in particular is very rudimentary. We would like to share with leading Taiwanese companies what we have seen and heard here, and perhaps that will help start some kind of a joint solution or project.”
Before visiting Skolkovo, the delegation of Taiwanese entrepreneurs visited ‘Yandex’ and ‘Rostech’, and on Wednesday it intends traveling to St. Petersburg.