The Eastern Economic Forum continues at the Far Eastern Federal University campus, with Skolkovo representatives taking part in discussions covering sustainable development and healthcare technologies. The Skolkovo Foundation also agreed to collaborate with the innovation sector of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.
The evidence of climate change has placed the long-term development of humankind at the center of international relations. This global agenda has become a driver for an energy transition, and Russia cannot remain on the sidelines. The question is whether or not Russia is technologically ready for such a transition, and experts attempted to tackle this during the session, “The transition to sustainable development: strategy, resources, and implementation tools.”
“The most important topic is energy storage technology. The world has still not achieved serious results in terms of the cost and efficiency of energy storage. It is here that in the coming 7-10 years we can expect the biggest progress. The second topic is hydrogen. Here there are still no competitive technologies, firstly in terms of cost, but I think that in the next ten years, they will appear,” said Arkady Dvorkovich, the chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation.
“This is not a transition; this is our development for the coming decades. It is development in which technologies change gradually. It is development in which it is possible to raise the standards of living for most and not decrease it by spending money on expensive technologies,” Mr. Dvorkovich added.
Mr. Dvorkovich also discussed the GreenTech Startup Booster, organized by the Skolkovo Foundation, which allows for a “continued selection of interesting solutions, which subsequently reach the level required by companies for industrial implementation.” He also stressed that international companies are taking part in this program.
In talking about the motivational component in sustainable development, Dvorkovich noted that the state should not “create negative incentives in terms of tax policy and find positive mechanisms.”
Another discussion covered the implementation of highly developed medical technology into health services. Kirill Kaem, the senior vice president of innovations at the Skolkovo Foundation, stated:
“In talking about technologies, there are two major trends that are linked to the shift in fundamental research to medicine, and we see this very clearly at Skolkovo in terms of the number of startups being created because of these changes. The first major shift is that deep learning has recently become widespread. In this case, this implementation is defined by two factors – the amount of accessible data and the number of teams making applied solutions in this field. The second shift is that everything that is connected to molecular medicine and genetics is now coming to medicine.”
The Skolkovo Foundation also signed a collaboration agreement with the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO) during the forum. Both sides agreed on joint work in innovation in the JAO. The JAO governor, Rostislav Goldstein, and the Skolkovo Foundation’s vice president of regional and international development, Yuri Saprykin, signed the document.
EEF-2021 takes place from 2-4 September in a mixed format. The central theme of this year’s forum is new opportunities in the far east in a changing world.
