“The Might of Russia Will Be Multiplied By Siberia”
The plenary session was held during the second day of the Forum. The list of participants included the Vice Prime Minister of the Russian Government Dmitry Rogozin, Presidential Envoy of the Siberian Federal District Viktor Tolokonsky, President of OJSC “Rosnano” Managing Board Anatoly Chubais, Governor of the Novosibirsk Region Vasily Yurchenko, Director of the “Young Professionals” Association at the Agency of Strategic Initiatives Dmitry Peskov, the Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Yury Slusar.
First signs of the new, sixth technological mode started emerging in the early 2010s. Experts predict that it will have been crystallized by 2020, and in 2025 we will witness a real technological revolution leading to changes in the structure of economy and industry. It was the first time that Russia’s transition to the sixth technological mode was so prominently discussed at “Technoprom 2013”. The Forum became the platform that brought together scientific, industrial, and governmental interests.
According to the experts’ opinion, the sixth technological mode will be defined by the development of robotics, biotechnologies based on the achievements in molecular biology, and gene engineering, nanotechnologies, artificial intelligence systems, global information networks, and integrated high-speed transportation systems.
Vice Prime Minister of the Russian Government Dmitry Rogozin told us that about 5% of industrial power in the USA is currently used for developing the sixth technological mode, there are over 50 technological centres that work in the sphere of future prognoses. The USSR used to be the leader of the fourth technological mode due to industrialization. However, we missed the fifth mode based on the development of computers and chemical industry. Only 10% of the Russian Federation economy is related to the fifth technological mode, while the fourth mode accounts for 50% of the economy, and the third technological mode accounts for about one third. Therefore, according to the Vice Prime Minister, we need to “cut a corner, jump over the fifth mode, and get right into the sixth technological mode”. The most important thing here is choosing the correct direction, since it will either allow us to achieve a real breakthrough, or simply give us no results.
Nanotechnologies are among the most significant elements of the sixth technological mode. They become the driving force of the economy and actually change its structure. Rosnano Corporation, which contributes to the development of nanoindustry, was created in Russia six years ago. Large amounts of funds are invested in Siberia. During the first day of the Forum General Director of OJSC “Rosnano” Anatoly Chubais took part in the opening of three new enterprises operating in Novosibirsk in the sphere of nanotechnologies.
“We are ready for new investments as Novosibirsk has enough scientific and technical potential to bring the results of scientific projects to businesses and successfully implement these projects,” noted Anatoly Chubais.
All these changes raise the question of preparing high-quality specialists. According to the Director of the “Young Professionals” Association at the Agency of Strategic Initiatives Dmitry Peskov, the sixth technological mode will not emerge at universities – education institutions of the old type. “We need new ways of preparing professionals. Universities must be transformed in order to allow students to establish their own businesses right inside education institutions while they continue their training courses. Students from Russia who are unable to receive necessary education in their home country due to the lack of needed competences must attend the best universities of the world,” said Dmitry Peskov.
By the way, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has recently supported the idea of “global education”.
A long-term program of preparing specialists for the new economy has been implemented in the Novosibirsk Region. The program received investments of more than one billion rubles within three years of operation. “During this time we upgraded our facilities, purchased modern equipment, modified education techniques. Today young people are receiving very good competences. And various companies become customers and partners in the process of implementing this program,” told the Forum participants Governor of the Novosibirsk Region Vasily Yurchenko.
Dmitry Rogozin noted that the main result achieved at the Forum was the emergence of a new form of communication between ambitious people ‘obsessed’ with technologies and the fact that Novosibirsk had become a centre of conducting regular events of this kind where particular mechanisms of introducing Russia into a new technological mode would be discussed.
“Having a unique fundamental science coupled with our inability to use our research results has always been the scourge of Russia. It turned out that the Japanese, Americans, Europeans usually practically applied what had been born here, at the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, and other large research centres. Today it is very important for us to correct this situation. First of all, create appropriate conditions in order to create new, useful products in a conscious manner, serve the interests of the fully developed state programs, and present these products to various businesses for their further introduction in manufacturing processes using the mechanism of public and private partnership,” emphasized Dmitry Rogozin.
