Cisco is among the first companies to move to the Hypercube, Skolkovo innovation city first building.Chris Dedicot, Cisco’s president for Europe, CIS, Middle Eastand Africa, told Gazeta.Ru what his company expected from collaboration with Skolkovo and how the Foundation was perceived outside of Russia.
Ciscois among the first occupants of the Hypercube, the first building in the Skolkovo Innovation City. Although the construction of this city has onlyrecently started, Cisco has already been actively operating there, by the end ofthe year its Corporate R&D Center will employ 30 specialists, and in thefuture their number will increase to 120. Gazeta.Ru asked Chris Dedicot, Cisco’sPresident for Europe, CIS, Middle East and Africa, what aspects of Skolkovo hadattracted his successful company to become one of Skolkovo’s key partners.
“Talents are the first thing we need for successful R&D. It is not a single recruitment that we need, but a “continuous supply oftalents”.
“That is, universities associated with the project are needed. This is really a very attractive aspect: universities are coming here, and students will find opportunities to be employed by major companies at Skolkovo, such as Cisco,” Mr. Dedicot explained to Gazeta.Ru.
Conor Lenihan, Skolkovo Vice President for International Partnership Development and former Irish Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations, fully shares this opinion.
“There is no difference between Cisco and other global companies. The company wishes to earn profits and build a great business. No matter where – Russia, Asia, Europe or the United States. And Russia really has something to offer – bright talents, skilled specialists in technology, mathematics and physics. Russia is among the leaders in terms of percentage of people with a highereducation. In general, it is impossible to grow talents overnight or during a short period of time, yet over many years Russia has created a fertile ground for the growing of talents in science and technology. This is also acknowledged abroad as well. This is the main motivator for major companies. Since labor and leasing rates in Moscow and Moscow area are not lower than in India or China, this is not a question of outsourcing, but a solution to the problems ofquality, the depth of quality of the talents. And Cisco has first-hand knowledge of Russian talents.
Cisco’s California office employs about 700 Russian scientists, researchers and technical specialists. The company knows those people rather well,” Conor Lenihan told Gazeta.Ru.
He emphasized that these days Europe is experiencing a decline of interest toward the technical professions, although in Russia this trend is not that strong, thanks to the long national traditions in the field of science andeducation.
“The situation differs greatly from the one I faced in my native Ireland, where I was a minister. However, in Russia, thanks to its large population and historical focus on science, there is still a good influx of staff needed forhigh-tech companies,” says Mr. Lenihan.
“The situation differs greatly from the one I faced in my native Ireland, where I was a minister. However, in Russia, thanks to its large population and historical focus on science, there is still a good influx of staff needed forhigh-tech companies,”
In addition to its R&D Center, Cisco organizes various educational programs at Skolkovo and for a second year in a row has been assisting with the innovation contest called Skolkovo Innovation Award: Powered by Cisco I-Prize.
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“Currently, there are about 44 such clusters, with Skolkovo being only one ofthose clusters, but a very important one at that. We are close to Moscow, andhere we have both a continuous influx of young talents and governmental support, which creates an environment facilitating practical application ofdevelopments.”
“To create a cluster, an ecosystem is needed: for example, silicon producersor components suppliers. And this is one of the ambitious tasks that Skolkovo isable to solve – attracting an ecosystem to Russia. That is why Skolkovo, as a project, is crucial.
We need not just a location; we need talents, an ecosystem and opportunities for people and companies to collaborate. We believe that such collaboration can create not only jobs in Russia, but also technology that will be used all over the world. In addition, Cisco has been operating in Russia for many years; we have tens of thousands of workers and we are focused not only on Skolkovo, but work with partners from all over the country," Chris Dedicot agrees with Conor Lenihan.
He says that Russian people are more skeptical about Skolkovo than the foreigners.
“It seems to me that you underestimate somewhat the power of Skolkovo project’s image. I visited the economic forum in Davos, and there specialattention was given to Skolkovo,” he said. “People know that it is a truly global and advanced project. People all over the world understand this.”
Read full version of this text in Russian at: http://www.gazeta.ru/skolkovo/2012/10/05_a_4800557.shtml