The XI Congress "Innovation Practice: Science plus Business" concluded in Moscow

The forum discussed key mechanisms of transition from import substitution to technological leadership. On December 10, 2024, the XI Congress "Innovation Practice: Science plus Business", organized by Innopraktika and Lomonosov Moscow State University, was held in a face-to-face format.

The Congress was attended by more than 1.6 thousand people, including top officials and leading specialists of government agencies, large Russian corporations, development institutions, investment companies, representatives of universities, research institutes and high-tech Russian organizations. A total of 17 events were held at the venue.

This year for the first time two strategic sessions were held within the framework of the Congress, which made it possible to put forward a number of theses and proposals at the plenary session. Ensuring financial and technological sovereignty is a key issue facing the Russian economy. Moreover, solutions that contribute to the achievement of financial and technological sovereignty are embedded as national goals of our state. This issue turned out to be so extensive that it was impossible to fit it into one session. The exchange of experts' opinions continued at the plenary discussion.

In his welcoming speech, Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University Viktor Sadovnichy noted that the annual meetings of representatives of science, education, government and business at the Congress are a powerful stimulus for the birth of new ideas of innovative development. According to him, "a year later these ideas are discussed by the Congress participants in the form of realized projects". One example was the creation of an inter-university quantum network - a large-scale project initiated by the President of the Russian Federation, part of which was supported by Lomonosov Moscow State University. According to Victor Sadovnichy, with the support of Innopraktika, a broad consortium will be created to develop a new communication quantum system with an open platform. "Such a system could be the first step towards the birth of the quantum internet. This is an important initiative aimed at the future," said Viktor Sadovnichy.

Katerina Tikhonova expressed gratitude to Russia's oldest university, which will soon celebrate its 270th anniversary, for its support in organizing the Congress "Innovative Practice: science plus business". "We are proud of the numerous joint projects and initiatives that make a significant contribution to strengthening the sovereignty of our country," said Innopraktika's CEO. In her remarks, she noted that for nearly 12 years, Innopraktika has been relentlessly pursuing its mission to foster the innovation economy. In particular, it supports fast-growing technology companies that become drivers of economic growth. According to Katerina Tikhonova, it is now important to rethink the role of development institutions in terms of coordinating the efforts of the regulator, large corporations and private business to transfer technologies to the real economy.

"For example, within the structure of the Innopraktika ecosystem there is an organization that synchronizes complex projects in the field of, as we call it, "economically justified import substitution". This is the mechanism of the "Innovation Engineering Center". It already has unique for the Russian Federation experience in the field of consolidation of industry order, and this experience can be scaled for the successful implementation of national projects and applied in the law "On Technological Policy". We propose to work out a mechanism of differentiated key rate for consumer and investment industrial loans together with scientific institutions and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation", - emphasized Katerina Tikhonova.

The head of Innopraktika also noted that in order to achieve Russia's cumulative sovereignty it is necessary to provide comprehensive support for various spheres, including science, education and culture.

Summarizing the plenary session, the moderator of the plenary session - First Deputy General Director of Innopraktika Natalia Popova noted: "For three years we have been discussing the topic of aggregate sovereignty at the Congress, including scientific, personnel and educational aspects. This year we have added another important aspect to these topics - multipolarity. Multipolarity implies the readiness of companies to enter the markets of friendly countries, present their technologies and take leading positions not only in the domestic market of Russia, but also abroad. We are ready to cooperate with those countries that share our values. Our goal is to move from import substitution to technological leadership. To achieve this, we must develop technologies that are in demand and enter new markets".