NUST MISIS and Vnesheconombank (VEB) will launch a Center of Competencies for New Materials and Breakthrough Technologies with a primary focus on blockchain, convergent (NBICS), and quantum technologies. The accumulation of knowledge about innovative technologies, the development of platforms for use in government organizations, and the training and popularization of those fields will be the Center`s main goals. This is the world`s first center with a combination of such competencies, and the main consumer of its services will likely be Russian state-owned companies and authorities.
Specialists from Ethereum and Exonum (blockchain platform of Bitfury company) — world leaders in the development of platforms on the basis of blockchain — will be working on the foundation and implementation of this Center.
The platforms` developers will work in cooperation with the Center`s staff. VEB`s plans include the following: developing Russian blockchain on the Ethereum and Exonum platforms, including the certification of cryptography systems; having educational technological seminars; and certifying specialists and trainers.
Sergey Gorkov, VEB Chairman, and Alevtina Chernikova, Rector of NUST MISIS, have signed an agreement on strategic cooperation. Both VEB and NUST MISIS are interested in a plethora of things, including: eliminating infrastructural limitations of Russia`s economic growth; innovation development; the formation of a system of preparation for qualified personnel for an innovative economy; the commercialization of breakthrough technologies; and the improvement of the quality of industry-specific and technological expertise of investment projects implemented with the support of VEB.
“NUST MISIS is one of Russia`s leading technological universities regarding research capacity, which allows us to effectively solve the business community`s issues in the fields of science and technology in the university`s priority areas. Our expertise in the fields of the development of quantum technologies, materials science and IT-technologies, as well as our unique system of training qualified personnel for an innovative economy will allow VEB and NUST MISIS to create a real ‘Factory of Innovative Projects’ for leading enterprises of Russia’s domestic industries”, — said Alevtina Chernikova.
“We are combining the efforts of all the stakeholders and creating Russia`s first Center of Competencies for government companies and authorities. Not only Russian, but also international developers in the field of innovative breakthrough industries will bring their experience and skills to the center. We are happy to complement VEB`s expertise and knowledge with competencies of Russia’s leading research center — NUST MISIS. Blockchain and the development of competencies in this field will become one of priority areas of work, and that’s why we have engaged Ethereumand Bitfury, respective world leaders”, — noted Sergey Gorkov.
He noted that a working group, led by Igor Shuvalov, the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, was created with the aim of implementing blockchain in state administration. Within this working group VEB is tasked to create and act as a moderator of the process.
According to the signed agreement, the Center will be located on NUST MISIS’s premises. Its opening is scheduled for September 2017, and it will become the first step of the strategic partnership between VEB and NUST MISIS, which also involves cooperation in the following areas:
• The development of innovative activities allowing for identifying technological innovations as research results and creating the conditions for their practical implementation in real economic sectors;
• The increase of scientific activities focused on the development of new products and technologies;
• The carrying out of independent examinations of potential innovative technologies and technical solutions for investments;
• The use of advanced technologies which have high commercial and export potential in order to create “factory of innovative investment projects” for consideration for funding or investment on the part of the VEB group;
• The use of the NUST MISIS Prototyping Center`s capabilities and competencies with the aim of digital design, modeling, and prototyping of complex functional objects within the implementation of innovative projects with the support of the VEB group;
• The development of supplementary vocational education for the formation of innovative thinking for use by researchers and entrepreneurial competencies;
• The formation of highly-qualified human resources (managerial and technical) within implementation of innovative projects with the support of VEB.
The project implemented by NUST MISIS and VEB has already received high praise at the international level.
“I believe that NUST MISIS is a perfect place for training specialists in the field of innovations because this education institution has extensive experience in the fields of engineering, metallurgy, and mining, and recently they have made serious investments in the field of biomedicine, as well as robotics and computerized systems. All these industries, when they operate together, are critical to any modern economy”, said Professor Harry Bhadeshia, member of the NUST MISIS International Scientific Advisory Council (University of Cambridge, UK).
“The University carries out strategic investments in the technological infrastructure of its new laboratories. I think that high level of professional expertise and investment are a very important indicator of the future. In the 21st century, energy, sustainable development, new materials, and technological issues have come to prominence”, said Professor Lindsay Greer, member of the NUST MISIS International Scientific Advisory Council (University of Cambridge, UK).
According to Professor Harry Ruda, member of the NUST MISIS International Scientific Advisory Council (University of Toronto, Canada): “NUST MISIS managed to gather a unique group of scientists — more than 100 people, who are conducting developments in the field of advanced technologies, and are ready to share experience and knowledge.”
