On April 6th Skolkovo Foundation hosted senior staff and policy advisors for 20 US Senators, including ranking members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Senate Finance Committee. The US delegation met last week with a broad array of Russian organizations and government officials to get a first-hand view of current developments in Russia. Particular interest was shown in Skolkovo and Russian efforts to advance innovation, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property protection.
The Skolkovo delegation, led by Chief Operating Officer Steven Geiger, described Skolkovo’s extensive existing collaboration with top-tier American companies and organizations, including MIT, Cisco, IBM, HP, and the US venture capital community, noting the most recent deal signed with Bessemer Venture Partners. Skolkovo participant-companies were also present to describe their experience working in Russia’s emerging innovation environment, including Parallels, Workle, Speaktoit, PENXY and Telum.
Both delegations expressed their desire to continue to expand Russian-US cooperation in education, joint R&D and technology transfer.