Forum Program

Moderated by: Alexander Arkhangelsky, TV presenter, essay writer

Discussion agenda:

• Who creates demand for knowledge? The role of the state in managing the market of innovations. Major Russian companies as consumers of new technologies and new materials
• Science as the main driver of the technological progress. Reformatting the science management system for new objectives. Problems in the development of scientific organizations in regions
• Ways to create conditions for the fast and effective conversion of scientists’ ideas into production and specific products
• Intellectual property protection. Impact of the patent system on the production and use of knowledge
• Requirements of the real sector for highly skilled specialists. Ways to raise creative workers.
• Ways to bridge the gap between the skills acquired in the higher education system and the real requirements of today’s economy. Needs of producers and capabilities of educational institutions
• How can a region raise and keep talented specialists? Working conditions and salaries, housing, self-fulfillment opportunities – what can the region offer?
• Place of small businesses in a knowledge economy
• From a consumer society to a knowledge society. Social specifics of the transition.
• The knowledge economy is accompanied by structural unemployment. How can people with outdated skills adapt to the new reality? The artificial “social employment” as a means of supporting employees unable to adapt to new requirements
• The knowledge economy cannot exist without the cementing power of morality and ethics serving as a foundation. Development of a high moral character to ensure safety of a knowledge society. The role of mass media in the formation of a new personality.

Official welcome addresses:

Alexey Gordeev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Central Federal District
Alexander Mikhailov, Governor of Kursk region
Sergey Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation

Event plan:

• 10.00-11.00 Mentors familiarize themselves with the exhibition.
• 11.00-13.00 Participants (the young scientists and innovators) present their projects to the mentors in the presentation venue at the exhibition. Presentation time: 5-7 minutes.

During the exhibition presentation mentors will give valuable advice and recommendations on the further development and implementation of the presented projects. Prizes and winner’s certificates will be awarded to the best projects selected at the event. All the participants will receive a participation certificate.

The best projects in the field of electronics will be invited to the finals of the “Festival of Innovations” competition during the “Microelectronics” international forum in Alushta from 20 September to 10 October 2018.

Event plan:

• 10.00-11.00 Mentors familiarize themselves with the exhibition.
• 11.00-13.00 Participants (the young entrepreneurs) present their projects to the mentors in the presentation venue at the exhibition. Presentation time: 5-7 minutes.

The exhibition presentation provides entrepreneurs from different regions of the Central Federal district using advanced technologies and appropriate solutions contributing to the development of smart and comfortable environments in regions.

Exhibition participants: active young entrepreneurs and young people aged under 30 planning to start a business.

The exhibition is primarily aimed at creating an effective venue for the development of mutually beneficial partnerships between young entrepreneurs, investors, representatives of large enterprises and public authorities. The exhibition of young entrepreneurs should direct the attention of the general public, the business community, regional governments of the Central Federal district, the media to the young entrepreneurs opening or planning to start a business, identify the most promising projects, help raise funds and resources for their successful implementation.

For young entrepreneurs, the exhibition is a good opportunity to announce themselves, to demonstrate their products and present them to Kursk city residents and visitors, to advertise their goods and services.

Moderated by: Valeria Mozganova, creator and host, Business.FM radio

TRACK 1. Managing science amidst digitization processes

Discussion agenda:

• Most of the federal subjects of the Central Federal district have no standalone divisions for regulating the scientific and technical activity in the region. Assistance to research activities, the backbone of the innovation-driven economy, from regional governments is limited to staff training, support for young scientists, as well as competitions, exhibitions and conferences. Why has science ended up as a poor relation to the other priorities of regional governments?
• Coordination of regional research activities by public authorities. What can the executive power do to support the scientific cluster of the region? Ways to influence the “production” of new findings and technologies in regions. Economic and organizational incentives for scientific and technical activities in the region. The role of the regional government in shaping the scientific and technical policy of a federal subject.
• The future of regional research centers. New network-based principles of operation of research teams. The role of digital technologies in creating new research centers.
• Experience of Moscow region and Kaluga region in supporting research activities in the region.
• International science management experience: the American, European and Chinese models.

TRACK 2. Development of an educational cluster

Discussion agenda:

• Education as an economic sector. Domestic and export potential of regional educational institutions. Student campuses and communities: a new resource to fuel economic development in regions. What measures should be taken to increase the appeal of educational institutions in Central Russia?
• Personnel requirements of enterprises and organizations and capabilities of the higher education system – what do HR services say? Why many of graduates cannot find a job, while businesses face shortage of specialists? Entering a higher education institution, today’s students do not know what specialists will be in demand in 4-6 years. How can the educational process keep pace with the accelerating technological progress?
• Education through the involvement of students in research activities. Scientific activities of students as the basis for new creative skills. The mechanism of interaction between laboratories, the sphere of education and the real sector. Economics of science at higher education institutions, who finances research activities? Basic research or applied science: what is more important for the educational process? Importance of students’ research in humanities, avenues of research and funding sources.
• Formation of a comfortable infrastructure for foreign students: simplification of migration procedures, ensuring their safe stay, arrangement of places for religious practices, nutrition in accordance with national traditions.

Moderated by:

Vitaly Yeremeev, Head of the Industry Analysis Department, Agency for Strategic Initiatives

Track 1. Regional industrial policy

Discussion agenda:

• Industrial policy of Central Russian regions amid the transition to a digital economy: strategy, objectives, priorities, risks, interaction between businesses and scientific communities
• Clusters as an industrial development facilitation mechanism for regions. New opportunities for investments, modernization, cooperation, including R&D activities.
• Problems in ensuring effective communication between businesses and the scientific community.
• State Industry Information System (SIIS). Using the SIIS capabilities for land use planning and managing manufacturing facilities on a regional scale. Is SIIS an analysis tool or an industry management tool?
• Application of advanced technologies in the industry (best available technologies, automation and robotization, smart production management systems, product flow control systems (labeling), additive digital production tools, modern materials, etc.) as a basic prerequisite for sustainable development. Main aspects and challenges. Technical, customs and tax regulation. Potential of technology supermarkets.
• Best available technologies (BAT). What are BAT guides? How can they enable manufacturing enterprise to use advanced technologies?
• Best technical achievements ensure shorter leadership with every year. Will the enforcement of fast-aging BAT impede the generation of new knowledge and technologies?
• Inclusion of a newly developed technology in BAT guides: yet another barrier to technology innovation, a competitive weapon, or a quality test?
• Opportunities for participation of enterprises operating in Central Russia in the creation and production of domestic equipment meeting the BAT principles. Public support measures.

Track 2. Digitization of production

• Digital economy impact on the manufacturing industry, public support measures. Implementation priorities and experience of Central Russian regions.
• Further objectives of digital infrastructure development in Central Russia.
• Prospects for the formation of regional IT projects in the manufacturing industry with limited support from the Government, high cost of funding and no guaranteed demand for services.

Track 3. Staff training for smart industries

• What specialists are HR offices of manufacturing enterprises looking for, what specialists are graduated from industry-specific higher education institutions? Where do enterprises eventually find workforce and where do graduates find employment? Bridging the gap between the interests of the educational system and manufacturing sector.
• Training of in-demand highly skilled specialists amid the rapid technological and digital progress with direct involvement of employers. Onsite training programs at enterprises.
• Revival of mentoring as a method of “fine tuning” specialists for specific industrial requirements.

Format and objectives:

The key objective of the project session is to develop a model of labor activity and environment for creative youth. The session will formulate specific criteria which the infrastructure should meet to enable young professionals and scientists to unleash their creative potential in the regions of Central Russia.

The session will take place in the team game format. Teams from the leading higher education institutions of the Central Federal district are welcome to participate in the project session.

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

The project session participants should be aged from 17 to 30.

The teams are selected based on a competition of projects. The participating teams should apply for the competition by submitting a Project and Team Passport (see Annex 1) to the Forum Organizing Committee at sef@akm.ru on or before May 8, 2018. The subject line should be “CEF 2018 Project Session”.

No more than 10 teams will be selected to participate in the project session based on the expert evaluation results.

The project session includes two modules:

Module 1: Project presentation. Time for presentation is 5 minutes. The presentation should be drawn up according to the contents of the Project Passport (see Annex 1).

Module 2: A strategic scenario forecasting game featuring leading experts from the region and the country. Various situations (challenges) will be simulated during the game, and each team will be given opportunities to solve the problems using the resources envisaged by their respective projects.

(A smartphone or tablet with Internet access should be brought along)

The teams’ performance will be assessed according to three groups of factors:

I. Resilience of the presented project to various challenges and crises

A number of situations will be simulated during the project session to test the adaptability and viability of projects in various simulated environments. The main test challenges will be as follows:

• change in the external environment: shifts in global and regional competition, an economic crisis, a new technology paradigm, natural and climatic changes.
• various models of the economy of the future (planning horizon: 20 years).

II. Social significance of the projects

• How can the project help improve the living standard of the region’s population?
• In what way would the project influence employment in the region?
• What kind of humanitarian mission does it carry out?
• Environmental component.

III. Cohesion in the project team

• quality of brainstorming
• agility in decision making
• team involvement and motivation

The winning team will be picked based on the project session results. All the winning team members will be awarded diplomas and prizes. The other participants will receive certificates of participation in the project session.

Moderated by:

Nikolay Lychev, Editor-in-Chief, Agroinvestor magazine

Discussion format

The session will be held in the form of a competition.

Innovative solutions for agriculture, whether implemented or pending implementation, will be evaluated. Best innovative projects will be determined following a discussion.

The evaluation will be based on three criteria:

• novelty and efficiency of the new technology or scientific research results
• environmental friendliness of the proposed innovations
• ability to improve the situation on the labor market

Accordingly, the projects will be evaluated by three groups of experts: specialists in technology, environment and employment.

During the session, representatives of Central Russia’s agro-industrial complex are supposed to report on advanced solutions (both implemented and intended to be implemented) resulting from scientific research. Each report will be discussed with experts to evaluate its novelty and efficiency of the applied technologies. The experts will propose alternative solutions applied by advanced farms in Russia and abroad, advise on further development opportunities for the new technologies, assess the impact of these innovations on the environment and the labor market.

The discussion should make each participating company’s innovation program subject to an independent appraisal. A professional judgment from an outside expert would help businesses reveal their weaknesses and bottlenecks and outline future development paths.

With the support of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation

Moderated by:

Mikhail Aksenov, Chairman of the Consumer Market, Small Business Development and Licensing Committee of Kursk region

Maxim Parshin, Head of the Department of Small and Medium Business and Competition, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation

Discussion agenda:

• Facilitating tools for small innovative businesses. Specifics of public support provided to strategically important innovative activities.
• Priorities of public support to businesses: enhancing the role of business support infrastructure, the one stop shop principle, standardization of services.
• Educational programs at the regional and federal levels: programs of JSC RSMB Corporation (“Entrepreneur’s ABC” and “School of Entrepreneurship”), the new 2018 programs “Mum Entrepreneur” and Russian Export Center’s training program “School of Export”
• Financial support as one of the key business development incentive tools.
• Specifics of lending to small innovative businesses. A cheap loan for a reliable company: what can the banking community offer?
• The role of start-up nurturing infrastructure. Efficiency of incubators, industrial parks, special zones from the standpoint of the Government and businesses.
• Digital technologies for the development of knowledge-based entrepreneurship. Providing services to small businesses in the digital space based on the one stop shop principle.

Enhancing the region’s export capacity by giving more opportunities to small and medium-sized businesses. Entering new markets. Teamwork with the Russian Export Center.

Organizer:

Kursk regional division of the Central Bank of Russia’s Main Branch for the Central Federal District

Moderated by:

Mikhail Mamuta, Head of the Service for Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion, Bank of Russia

Vasily Zuev, Head of the Branch for financial literacy and interaction with civil society institutions, Service for Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion, Bank of Russia

Ilshat Yangirov, Head of the Bank of Russia Main Branch for the Central Federal District

Yevgeny Ovsyannikov, Head of the Kursk regional division of the Central Bank of Russia’s Main Branch for the Central Federal District

Discussion agenda:

Track 1: Current state of the financial literacy enhancement system. Regional practice and development trends

• Key activities of the Bank of Russia in implementing the national strategy of financial literacy enhancement in the Russian Federation.
• Strategic partnership between the executive authorities and the territorial division of the Bank of Russia as a key prerequisite for improving the efficiency of awareness raising activities related to financial literacy.
• Ensuring availability of financial services.
• Development and organization of effective interdepartmental cooperation aimed at raising financial awareness.
• Coverage of current financial literacy issues in the mass media. Distribution of socially oriented information materials.

Track 2: Current trends in the practice of raising financial literacy of the population. Prospects for the use of innovative approaches to different target audiences

• Introduction of financial literacy basics into the curriculums of education institutions at all levels.
• Development of remote financial awareness raising activities.
• Current issues in the use and management of volunteering for improving financial literacy of the population.
• Specifics of the training system for the elderly and most socially disadvantaged groups of the population (orphans, physically challenged people, etc.).

Track 3: Higher competencies of economic entities as the cornerstone for economic growth of the regional economies

• Improving the financial culture of representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, employees of economic entities. Efforts aimed at raising financial awareness of employees and the self-employed.
• Current trends and practices of improving financial literacy of economic entities by credit institutions.
• Role of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and public organizations in arranging educational activities for business communities.

Moderated by:

Konstantin Komkov, a member of the Civic Chamber of Kursk region

Discussion agenda:

Track 1. Innovative thinking and the system of moral values.

• Public policy of Russian regions aimed at the development of innovative and creative thinking of the coming generation. What approaches are employed in today’s society: sectoral (technocratic) and environmental (value-based)?
• What requirements for the society are coming from the rising “Luntik-Fixik” generation?
• Clip thinking and creative thinking. Ways to bring up a person with “innovative” thinking. Mentoring system and knowledge transfer.
• Restoration of the moral system of values to underpin, with the formation of a proper responsibility mechanism, the creation of a new productive national elite. What rules should apply to the formation of a business elite and a productive creative elite focused on the development of the country?
• Society and the church: traditions in the formation of spiritual values and cultivation of morality.
• Communications in the society: what have the mass media become in the age of technological revolutions?
• Role of the mass media in shaping the social environment.

Track 2: Facilities of public centers and instruments for the formation of active citizenship.

• Environment development: from a culture of consumption to a culture of commitment. Ways to involve the active generation in the social environment.
• Role of volunteering in the formation of a new personality. “Timur and his team” of the 21st century. Charity and volunteering as a normal lifestyle.
• Social environment development points: from citizens’ initiative to a comfortable social environment?
• Scientific and educational role of museums in highlighting the sightseeing attractions of the region. Museum and children: designing a creative environment: multimedia, digitization, tutorials.
• The Great Book rEvolution as a rapid comeback of reading as an element of the personal culture for the overwhelming majority of the Russian people. What social development prospects does the Book rEvolution open by refocusing the people’s attention on books as a priority means of self-development?