governors speech in tomsk

Of course lets start generating sales info now from what we have before looking too much into the future...

Governor`s speech to the opening of XI Innovation Forum
10/10/08

Tomsk has always been a pioneer. Beforetime the symbol of leadership was Siberian trade road passing through the town, then the first in Siberia University, today it is Special Economic Zone of technical innovation type. Tomsk strength is in the fact that it has always been responding keenly to everything new that has occurred in the country, striving to make its contribution to its development. On 10-12 October Innovation Forum with international participation will assemble for the eleventh time. Its status will be much higher than previous ones -that concerns both the participants and the range of problems being discussed. It is in the days of the forum, when the opening of the Southern site of Special Economic Zone of technical innovation type will take place.

Tomsk is one of the pioneers of innovation economy development. In 2002 we took the Innovation strategy, starting with three innovation companies. The infrastructure of innovation economy has been built for six years: business incubators, technology transfer centers, offices for research commercialization and innovation enterprises themselves. Today there are more than 200 of them. Development trends of innovation sector is of course connected with Special Economic Zone of technical innovation type formed in Tomsk. 25 companies are already its residents.

Innovation companies function in Tomsk mainly in three spheres: IT-technologies, biotechnologies and nanotechnologies. All three sectors include scientific-educationalinstitutions, manufacturing enterprises, investors and partners, advancing this sector of economy.

The sphere of IT-technologies has got a significant development in Tomsk. It is likely due to stability of cultural layer of comparatively small city with six universities with a great range of specialities. About ten quite large companies appeared at the stage of commercialization of engineering developments more than 15 years ago: STEK, Intant, EleSy, Micran, Elecard, etc. Almost all of them were founded by graduates of Tomsk universities. Tens of small, focused companies appeared around large ones.

IT-technologies spreading was favoured by free town traffic established in Tomsk, networking of 90% of schools, teaching computer literacy to teachers not only in Tomsk, but also regions of oblast, founding Internet-centres in the backwoods of Tomsk. Information technologies development as an innovation tool has proceeded step by step at first in bank, then state, higher education institute and industrial structures. It’s in Tomsk, where bank automation “turnkey” has appeared for the first time in Russia. Successful experience of residents of Tomsk has been naturally replicated in the other towns of Russia. Due to developing scientific-educationalcomplex Tomsk provides tens and hundreds of towns with specialists in IT-technologies, defining their technological policy.

Creation of Special Economic Zone of technical innovation type has joint potential of innovation sector of Tomsk economy with huge resources of the state. The platform for negotiations of IT-firms managers with representatives of the authorities is enabled by social organisation Tom-KIT (the association of IT-technologies companies). It’s the organisation which initiates today the project of a new model of accommodation for young specialists. The authorities understand that it will help to leave much more talented youth in Tomsk graduating from Tomsk institutes of higher education. We hope that this project will be able to be realized while developing our Special Economic Zone.

“Biotechnologies and medicine” is the second sector of innovation development mentioned above. It’s being developed by workgroups joining specialists in bio, IT- and nanotechnologies. There the staff of scientific-educational institutions works - Medicine -Biology Faculty of Siberian State Medical University, specialists in industrial biotechnologies of Tomsk Polytechnic University, Department of Biology and Soil Science and SRI of Biology and Biophysics of Tomsk State University and, at last, departments of Tomsk scientific centre: 6 SRI of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences and of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences each.

The second constituent of this sector - industrial enterprises - “Virion”, “Vector”, “ Bioengineering”, “HTM”, “Biomedsib”, “ArtLife”, “Tomsk natural pharmaceutical company”, “Biolit”, “ Pharmstandart-Tomskchemfarm”, “Innokom” and the others.

The third one is investors: World Bank, Join-Stock Financial Corporation “Sistema”, “Microgen” venture fund “Russian technologies” and Oxford venture fund “ORBIT”, Bortnick Fund, Russian representative office of Glaxo Smith Kline Trading and the company AGA management (Moscow).

And at last the fourth foothold of innovation activity in biomedical sphere is the partners in Tomsk oblast Administration, Tomsk technology transfer centre, Innovation Assistance Centre, “Fibre group”, International Innovation Centre (Prague).

Tomsk scientific-educational complex is one of the pre-eminent leaders in both the field of nanotechnologies and making new materials. Nanopowders, nanofibres and nanostructural materials are needed in domestic and international markets. Hundreds of enterprises in CIS, Japan, the USA, Germany, Slovenia, Israel, India, Singapore are interested in this product. The developments of the given sector are supported by tens of grants of Academy of Sciences and Russian scientific funds. Output of nanotechnologies has obtained the recognition in the USA, won in NASA contest. In 2008 Consortium “Tomsknanotech” has been established - a section in Russian nanotechnological network. Its founders are administrations of Tomsk oblast and Tomsk city, Tomsk scientific centres and universities, Siberian Chemical Plant, Territory Administration of Russian SEZ in Tomsk oblast. The total amount of financing of nanotechnology development by Consortium organizations in 2007-2008 has made about 1 billion rubles.

Innovations are essentially investments into new scientific knowledge and technologies. But, in the opinion of some specialists and as it seems to us, this activity efficiency is not high enough today, as we would like it to be, though the demand for innovations under postindustrial development has been sharply irrupted. Such is the paradox. It’s likely to be connected with the fact that in industrial age innovations were realized in large vertically integrated corporations, but in postindustrial age innovations often become like venture investments in small companies with the corresponding risk level. It’s not occasional that only 7% of enterprises deal with innovations in Siberia according to the data from Russian Statistics. And a significant part of this small sector is focused in industrial giants of metallurgy, energetics and defence complex. Though we need advancement of innovations in tens of thousands of small and middle firms. I hope that Innovation Forum will respond to this problem as well.

Tomsk oblast Administration regards innovation sector of economy as the main priority, provides it with organizational and financial support. As a result, a part of innovation potential in total potential of the region makes up 21.7%. According to Federal State Statisctics, the level of innovation activity of Tomsk oblast enterprises in 2006 has made 15.6% (in Russia - 8.6%, and in Siberian Federal Circuit - 7%), i.e. almost every sixth Tomsk company deals with innovations.


Today we move to a new phase - we introduce our science intensive production in international market. Tomsk universities take an active part in this process as well as International technology transfer centre recently founded in cooperation with Taiwan. I think it’s intellect that will become the main treasure of Siberia in one or two decades. It’s Siberian science, Siberian science intensive business, innovations, IT-technologies, medicine that will increase in Russia in the third millennium. Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, International Investment Forum in Sochi, Lake Baikal and Krasnoyarsk Economic Forums have became the famous brands of strengthening economy of Russia. I’m sure that Tomsk has a perfect right to become a constant place of conducting International Innovation Forum. In the basis of my confidence are achievements of Tomsk oblast in innovation sphere: forming infrastructure of innovative economy, scientific-educational activity of Tomsk universities, three of which are Tomsk State University, Tomsk University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics and Tomsk Polytechnic University have been granted innovation status, achievements of Tomsk scientific centres and increasing number of innovation enterprises. Culmination of these achievements and one more forcible argument in favour of holding innovation forums here is founding Special Economic Zone of technical innovation type in Tomsk. Our task in the next years is to join under the banner of Tomsk Innovation Forum scientists, entrepreneurs and statesmen of Russia, Europe, the USA, India, Australia and the countries of South East Asia. The high status of XI Innovation Forum in Tomsk, participation of managers of some leading ministries and offices of Russian Government in it, representatives of Kazakhstan, national and foreign companies and scientific societies confirm that motion in this direction reveals new future for us.