The meeting at the VDNKh Exhibition Centre brought together hundreds of academics, industry experts and officials to discuss the implementation of new technologies in Russia.

The Fоrum aims to form a concept for long-term social-economic development of Russia up until 2035. According to Alexander Auzan, the Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Moscow State University,

“We are not satisfied with Russia’s current position in the world. It is necessary to think one generation ahead.”

Igor Levitin, a presidential economic adviser, said that priority will be given to new transportation technologies such as Hyperloop. Distributed ledger and cryptocurrencies have also received their share of attention. Andrei Belousov, Assistant to the President of Russia:

“The drivers of economic growth are changing. New industrialisation will be based on biotechnology, the Internet of Things, digital print, blockchain etc.”

Pavel Luksha, Skolkovo Moscow School of Management:

“What are the technologies Russia can use in the global game? It is cryptography and new finance. Russia has one of the best cryptography schools in the world.”

Ассоrding to Pavel Luksha, a university professor teaching at Skolkovo, it is very important to foresee the general development of society and realise that in the near future, people will be driven out of industry due to the automation. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the new spheres such as social networks, game communities and companies producing relevant technologies.

The Forum takes place at the VDNKh Exhibition Centre from 21 to 24 July. The programme includes lectures, workshops, a business programme and a project exhibition. Shortly before the start of the event, some fraudsters were selling tickets to the Forum for prices up to 16,000 rubles ($250) while the participation is absolutely free.

Alexey Tereshchenko