Key conclusions

The science city on Russky Island will become the center for implementing the concept of Industry 4.0 and for transitioning to a "green" economy

“One of the major problems we have today is about how to implement the climate policy, how to make a transition from an old to a new green economy <…> We have a lot of information, observation, technologies, satellites, and models. So this is an area of really a lot of green jobs for many people, many young people <…> At the moment we are heading to more than 3 degrees of global warming.  That's really quite scary for our future,” said Riccardo Valentini, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Presidential Advisor and Head of the Far Eastern Climate Smart Project at the Far Eastern Federal University; Head of CMCC (The Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change).

“Industry 4.0 is very much also a priority for Europe at this moment. And I want to say that it's not only a question of changing our way of producing things. Today we use a whole lot of things - Internet, computers, robotics.  It's also now a way to respond to one of the big questions of if we have a future as human beings,” Riccardo Valentini indicated.

Challenges

Investing in Primorye is risky

“We are developing a concept for developing Russky Island using the example of how Sinjindo Island was developed in the south of Korea.  From an investment standpoint, this is very risky. There are only 600,000 people living in Vladivostok and the profit to be made is unclear. This is why we need help from the government, following a private-public partnership model,” said Yun Wonsok, Executive Vice-President for Business Information & Trade Affairs with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

Creating a powerful university town is not going to happen quickly

“A serious university town, as a general rule, has from one to two hundred thousand people. We won't be able to reach such a strong level of human capital on Russky Island in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, there are examples of science cities with populations of 20,000.  We can look at the science cities just outside of Moscow.  The only thing we don't have is the understanding of the university as an urban ecosystem. We need to begin accepting the concept for developing Russky Island as a concept for developing the city of Russky. We want to solve the problem of concentrating jobs from technology companies here. We have big potential for putting together a university town here. People develop territories. It's important that we gather people here,” stressed Dmitry Zemtsov, Vice Rector for Development at the Far Eastern Federal University; Head of Working Group «Extra-curricular activities Movement» of National Technology Initiative (NTI) on the Development of Supplementary and Non-Formal Education.

Solutions

Developing international tourism in the area of nuclear medicine

“It is important to have guarantees from the state, at least when it comes to patient flow. Financially reliable demand is especially small in the regions. We need to improve access to networks. Subsidized loans are also important. We are planning on developing international tourism in the sphere of nuclear medicine,” said Anton Shargin, Head of the Project of the Nuclear Medicine Centre Construction on the Russky Island, Rusatom Healthcare JSC.

Localizing companies on Russky Island

“Yesterday, in conjunction with the Far East Federal University, we launched a technopark on Russian Island. This is a key element for having innovative companies here. But that's not the only thing. We need to have industrial partners and soft infrastructure. People need to feel comfortable. But we need to fill this infrastructure with content to create a techno-innovative zone on Russky Island. The technopark is the first step in assembling technology companies in one physical location in order for there to be synergy from their work,” said Yury Saprykin, Vice President for Regional and International Development at the Skolkovo Foundation.

International cooperation in energy

“The energy bridge that has been discussed with Japan is an unprecedented platform for implementing the best know-how. The technological trends most in demand are: DC electro transmission over high and super-high voltage electricity networks, establishing a flexible control system, transitioning to digital transfer of information, and state of the art technologies for creating automated control systems. It is important that this be done between different energy systems and different countries,” said Konstantin Petukhov, Deputy General Director for Services Development and Implementation at Rosseti.

Concentrating efforts to develop the Far Eastern Federal University

“It is necessary to concentrate efforts to develop the Far East Federal University, support the opening of laboratories with the involvement of leading researchers from abroad, and continuing programs that support university engineering centers. The government needs to assist the Far East Federal University quickly enchance its expertise,” said Artyom Shadrin, Head of the Department of Strategic Development and Innovation of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.