Science Communities in Turku to Start Co-operation with the Skolkovo Technology Cluster
An agreement was made during the meeting of the Presidents of Finland and Russia on co-operation between universities in Turku, Turku Science Park Ltd, and the Skolkovo science and technology cluster that is rising near Moscow.
The agreement was signed in the Forum Marinum of Turku on Tuesday June 25 by CEO of Turku Science Park Ltd Rikumatti Levomäki (on the left), Rector of the University of Turku Kalervo Väänänen, President of the Skolkovo Foundation Victor Vekselberg and Rector of Åbo Akademi University Jorma Mattinen. In the picture (behind) Mayor Aleksi Randell.
The University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Turku Science Park Ltd and the Skolkovo Foundation, which administers the Skolkovo area, signed an agreement on co-operation in The Forum Marinum Maritime Centre in Turku June 25, 2013.
The objectives of the agreement are to accelerate the commercialisation of scientific research and support the creation of Public-Private Partnerships. Another objective is to create a joint Russian-Finnish start-up community and new financing instruments, as well as accelerate the co-operation between the contracting parties when they target each other’s, European and global markets.
– For the University of Turku it means an opportunity to expand the positively started research co-operation with a number of Russian research organisations. This is particularly interesting because of the opportunity to implement it also together with other European and international players, states Kalervo Väänänen, Rector of the University of Turku.
The new co-operation concerns especially the fields of life sciences and ICT which are important to Turku.
The co-operation in life sciences focuses on biomaterials, diagnostics, personalised medicine and biomarkers. Focal areas in drug development include e.g. inflammatory diseases, diseases of the central nervous system, cardiovascular diseases, and endocrinology.
Areas of co-operation in the ICT sector include health technology, e-learning materials, data security, imaging, and data analyses.
The Strong Know-how of Turku is Recognised
The modernisation of health care and pharmaceutical industry has been put on the agenda for the next few years in Russia. Russia’s Pharma 2020 programme sets the goal to raise the country’s self-sufficiency regarding drugs and medical equipment quickly from 20 per cent to 50 per cent. It will open up significant business opportunities also for the universities in Turku.
The health care needs are also emphasised in the ICT sector.
– The Russians are interested in using health technology to develop the quality of health care. eHealth and mHealth are important for their future, too. Their interest in the co-operation indicates that the long-term work in the fields of drug development, diagnostics and health technology in Turku is recognised also outside Finland, says Rikumatti Levomäki, CEO of Turku Science Park Ltd.
The Skolkovo Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in September 2010 by the Russian government with an objective to accelerate transformation of Russia from a resource-intensive to an innovation-based economy.
TK