The event will be held in Moscow on 15–16 March 2012 with the support of JSCo Russian Railways, with Business Dialogue as the organiser

“Innovative transport development, which is the subject of the 2nd International Forum “Transport Science: Innovative Solutions for Business”, is highly relevant for successful development of the sector and for making the Russian economy more competitive in a world of constantly expanding international trade. The Forum is conducive to open dialogue and a search for answers to the challenges facing the national transport system”, runs part of the address to the participants by JSCo Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin.

Members of the international scientific community and transport business executives will meet at the Forum to discuss problems involved in improving the operation of the railways sector. The issues offered for discussion at the Forum span the whole spectrum of tasks facing transport today. These include:

• The future of rail transport
• Scientific achievements as a catalyst to transformation in the sector
• Optimising transport flows in the interests of business: innovative approaches to carriage management
• Scientific personnel as the basis of innovative development of the railway transport
• Integration of transport science on a Pan-European scale
• Transport machine building: scientific and technical novelties in the service of manufacturers

The Forum is called upon to stimulate a systemic dialogue between sectoral science and business representatives for the purpose of strengthening the country’s transport complex and enabling it to meet better the needs of the state and society for freight carriage and make transport more accessible to passengers. The event’s practical tasks are to promote commercialisation of R&D, to determine what is required of R&D on the part of business, to develop a consolidated approach by scientific and business communities regarding the most effective mechanisms for financing scientific activities.

As part of the Forum, a joint session will be held of the Presidium of the JSCo RZD Integrated Scientific Council and executives of the International Railway Research Board under the International Union of Railways (only for members of the ISC and UIC).

The First International Forum “Transport Science: Innovative Solutions for Business”, held in 2011, was attended by more than 200 participants from 11 countries: Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Germany and the UK. It was covered by more than 70 members of 42 media outlets.

Such concepts as customer-orientated science, managing science as a business process and rational organisation of research were the subjects of the arguments and conflicting assessments during the Forum. But there was a broad consensus among the Forum participants on the need for scientists and practical workers in different countries and disciplines to cooperate closely in order to move to the frontline of world transport science and come up with a complex of measures to that end.

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