Translated material
Medvedev Laboratory
The President launched the process of modernizing the Russian economy
The first meeting of the Presidential Commission for Modernization and Technological Development of the Economy, as usual, was not held in the Kremlin. A powerful landing of officials landed in an “unusual but significant place,” as President Dmitry Medvedev put it, at Kaspersky Lab. Just a few days ago, the man and brand Evgeny Kaspersky received the State Prize from the hands of Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin, and now the president came to him on a return visit. “I didn’t even have a suit before. I bought it to go to the Kremlin, and now it’s useful again,” Evgeny Kaspersky told reporters. By the way, he is not a member of the commission, so he was both the host of the event and a guest at it.The meeting itself, despite its location, was not devoted to the development of the IT industry, but to the determination of the general goals and objectives of the commission’s work. “As usual, the modernization process will have to be started manually,” Dmitry Medvedev said, not without sarcasm, opening the meeting. The complexity of the situation lies in the fact that it is impossible to ensure a technological breakthrough with the hands of the president and even an entire presidential commission. If it is unprofitable to engage in high technology, no one will produce anything. “It’s easier to buy everything abroad and supply natural raw materials there, but businessmen must be motivated to produce everything here,” the president believes.
Dmitry Medvedev said that “today business is not motivated in any way for this kind of activity, it does not want to do this, it does not want to invest money in something that does not bring quick returns.” According to the head of state, little has been done to date in the area of economic modernization. “Neither small firms, nor the technology parks being created, nor venture capital companies, nor other mechanisms have brought results. All this basically exists only on paper,” the president believes. In addition, the country has an extremely low volume of research work. In Russia, this figure is only 6% of the total costs of enterprises, while in Japan - 75%, in the USA - about 70%, in EU countries - from 25 to 65%. “We spend very little on this, and if this continues, we will not get anything, it will just be spells,” the head of state noted.
The commission should look for motivation for innovative breakthroughs in the economy. The work will be carried out point-by-point, in sectors that meet certain criteria. Firstly, where “there is a significant groundwork and signs of competitiveness have been preserved,” the president listed. Secondly, projects must have a multiplier effect, which will serve as a catalyst for the development of related industries. Thirdly, they must be tied to issues of defense and state security, as well as be attractive and meaningful to people. “We need to make provisions for the future. Because in many industries we live thanks to the foundations left over from Soviet times. And if we don’t make the same groundwork for the future now, then there will simply be nothing to do,” believes Sergei Kiriyenko, a member of the commission and the head of Rosatom.
The commission decided that five key areas meet the above criteria. These are energy efficiency and resource saving; nuclear technology and nuclear energy, “new fuels” such as hydrogen energy, the use of nuclear fusion reactions and biofuels made from non-agricultural raw materials. The third priority is the development of space technologies, primarily in the field of telecoms. The fourth priority is medical technologies, including the production of drugs and diagnostic equipment. And finally, fifth - strategic computer technologies.
“On each topic, we will change the environment step by step, adjust legislation so that innovation ceases to be an empty phrase,” one of the commission members, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich, promised reporters.
For each of the five areas, a special working group will be created under the leadership of one of the commission members. The composition of the working groups will be determined within ten days. Every week they will report on the results of their activities to the deputy chairmen of the Commission for Modernization and Technological Development of the Economy - First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov and the head of the government apparatus Sergei Sobyanin, and once a month they will report directly to the president.
The government will review funding for science
In the next few months, Russia must determine priorities in science and technology in which it intends to achieve competitiveness, said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Andrei Klepach, speaking at a meeting of the working group on innovation legislation under the administration of the President of the Russian Federation, RIA Novosti reports. He recalled that budget parameters for 2010 and for the period until 2012 are now being formed. “The budget will be very tight, there will be cuts in budget expenditures in many areas,” the official said.
According to Mr. Klepach, Russia's science and technology sector is currently "far behind its competitors in both efficiency and scale." “In fact, the entire sector of both applied and fundamental research needs serious reorganization,” said the deputy minister. Now it is necessary to determine a set of technological initiatives around which the efforts of the state, science and business will be concentrated. “It is impossible to be competitive in all areas,” the official believes. Among possible priority areas, he named the field of nanotechnology, the field of microbiological and medical research (in particular, pharmacology), the field of energy and energy efficiency, aviation and space technology. "We need to understand what programs and research, especially in the area of technological development, will be preserved in any way," Mr. Klepac said. “This fork in the road will be tough; some research will have to be stopped, people will have to be laid off, centers will have to be closed,” said the deputy minister. He emphasized: “We have a very strict time frame in order to formulate key approaches and decide on financing - only a few months.” “The price of the issue, the price of a mistake, will be very high,” the deputy minister emphasized.
According to Andrei Klepach, Russia spends "a lot of money on the development of science and technology - about 300-plus billion (rubles - Ed. ), including funds from private firms." But this is only about 1.1% of GDP, which is significantly less than in China, not to mention the EU, where this parameter exceeds 2% of GDP.