Former Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich was elected co-chair of the Skolkovo Foundation board at a foundation council meeting on Friday. He will share the chairmanship with Skolkovo Foundation president Victor Vekselberg, overseeing the foundation’s strategic development.
Arkady Dvorkovich was previously responsible for innovations policy within the government. Photo: Sk.ru.
Dvorkovich, who has been a regular visitor to the Skolkovo innovations city in his previous role as innovations curator in the government, replaces the former Intel Corporation chairman, 78-year-old Craig Barrett, who stepped down as co-chair at the end of last year.
“During his work in the government, Arkady Dvorkovich oversaw Russia’s innovations policy, in particular the Skolkovo Foundation,” Vekselberg said at the foundation council meeting.
“He knows both the strong and weak aspects of the project inside out, is familiar with its financial and operational indicators, and understands our current tasks and strategic priorities. I am very glad that Arkady is joining our team as what could be described as an on-the-field coach, and that he will be able to take part not only in formulating our future ambition plans, but also in their practical implementation,” said Vekselberg, who has headed the foundation since its creation in 2010.
Dvorkovich said that Skolkovo was not just a centre of gravity for the latest tech developments from all over the country, but also a powerful educational cluster.
“At its foundation is the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology,” a graduate research university set up in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), noted the former deputy prime minister, who has a Master’s degree from Duke University in the U.S.
“Thanks to Skoltech, people are not waiting for the future here, but creating it,” said Dvorkovich.
“Skoltech is a new, open university designed to become a place where new standards are set along with new forms of cooperation between academic researchers, economists and managers for the sake of the development of today’s world. The innovations infrastructure is formed along the path from an idea and the research and development stage to products that are in demand among major companies. Skolkovo’s task is to make that path as smooth as possible for innovators,” said Dvorkovich.
The day before the council meeting, Dvorkovich opened the Corporate Innovations conference at the Skolkovo Technopark, at which he noted that Skolkovo had succeeded in creating the basis for the advancement of all the main areas of the country’s innovations development.