With its intellectual property, the legacy of Soviet research institutes, and some help from the UK, Russia has a good chance to expand into European high-tech markets, believes Dr. Patrick Fullick of Capital Science Connections.
“Russia remains a kind of Aladdin’s cave where there are all kinds of interesting things to be found,” Fullick said. “The legacy of the Soviet research institutes and the first-rate mathematics, science and engineering education system mean that there are all kinds of people, ideas, intellectual property that remain in Russia to be discovered and exploited.”
He says that with all of this Russia has the key to an interesting high-tech future, and believes that cooperation with the UK and using its experience might really help Russia to bring out its full potential.
“The key point here is that this is not about help it is about doing business and it is about mutual investment,” he said. ”The UK provides an interesting case study for Russia. Back in the 70s we moved from being an economy where science and technology were very very disconnected from business to where we are now.”
However, Fullick admitted that for the UK it took a lot of time to reach that level of business integration with the high-tech sector, and said that Russia is only making the first steps in that direction.
“Russia is taking the first steps in establishing the new business center of Skolkovo,” he said. “Establishing what is going to be, I suppose, a kind of Silicon Valley there. And British involvement in that is going to be absolutely key in terms of developing companies, developing business, and helping Russian high-tech business expand outside Russia into markets in Europe.”