British hi-tech companies and universities will be vying to share in the business and research opportunities in the area dubbed Russia’s Silicon Valley next week.

Firms are attending an event, hosted by UK Trade and Investment, on Skolkovo, a centre of excellence on the outskirts of Moscow, which has an annual budget of $1.5bn and is designed to modernise Russia's economy.

Included in a two-day roadshow, the event on 15 February at the Institute of Directors in London, is seen as doubly important to UKTI as Skolkovo has been identified as a High Value Opportunities target while Russia is part of the high-growth and emerging markets focus.

The event follows rime minister David Cameron’s visit to Russia last year, accompanied by a business delegation headed up by Lord Green, which put UK-Russia collaboration in high-tech sectors and research and commercial partnerships at the top of the agenda.

The Russian government-funded Skolkovo Foundation – which boats three Nobel Prize Laureates – is looking to Britain for joint research/commercial projects in the five key areas of space and telecommunications, IT, nuclear, biomedical and energy efficiency.

Many world-renowned scientists and over 310 companies and start-ups have already signed up to Russia’s largest innovation project and global technology hub, and major corporations such as Boeing, Cisco, EADS, GE, Johnson & Johnson and IBM have already recognised the benefits of involvement in this landmark project.

To date, over £100m has been granted by the Skolkovo Foundation to partnering companies and organisations.

The plan to create Russia’s equivalent of Silicon Valley was announced by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2010.

At the London event research organisations, academic institutions and financial investors active within the priority sectors will be able to gain further understanding of the opportunities available to the UK business and research community to gain funding for joint projects with the Skolkovo Foundation clusters.

There will also be examples of case studies where Skolkovo is already working with UK universities with assistance from the Science & innovation Network and UKTI.

The Skolkovo Innovation Centre aims to enable advanced research and development to be transformed into commercially viable products and services. The centre will house five strategic research clusters, each of which are already active and headed by outstanding scientists. The five sectors are:

Biomedical research

The Biomedical Cluster is designed to help transform Russia’s pharmaceutical market by attracting the biggest names in medical research. It aims to produce cutting-edge research that leads to innovative technologies, instruments and services that will help improve the quality of healthcare worldwide.

Ninety companies, including Johnson & Johnson, have already joined the cluster which each week receives additional applications for corporate participation.

Energy efficiency

The Energy Efficiency Cluster sets Russia’s sights on improving its record of energy efficiency by developing cutting-edge technologies that allow more energy to be produced from fewer resources.

In order to fulfil its ambitions, the cluster will focus on the key technological developments and innovations in energy generation, electricity transmission, heat transmission, domestic energy efficiency, industrial energy efficiency and ‘green energy’.

IT

Russia’s IT market is growing at around 20% a year and is currently worth $16bn. Skolkovo is supporting the next generation of IT innovation in partnership with leading names such as Cisco, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and SAP. 

The cluster is looking to develop and commercialise IT innovations, working with private, public and educational institutions. Russia is an increasingly popular destination for outsourcing software development and the country’s software exports are third only to India and China.

Nuclear technology

The Nuclear Technologies Cluster builds on a strong legacy of excellence from Russia’s Soviet past whilst promoting innovation through investment and the attraction of international talent. As well as enhancing the competitiveness of nuclear power markets, the cluster also aims to create new breakthrough technologies and products. Major global companies including Siemens and Rosatom have demonstrated their interest in this cluster by forming strategic partnerships.

Space and telecommunications

For over half a century, Russia has been a leader in space exploration. This cluster will build on this legacy to produce a new generation of space and telecommunication technologies.

Its community is growing fast and today 49 innovative companies in the space technologies and telecommunications sector have joined. Interested companies will benefit from grants of between $50,000 to $10m, cutting-edge facilities and the support of some of the most renowned research institutes.