The Forum is supported by JSCo Russian Railways and organised by Business Dialogue.

The Forum was opened by Russian Railways First Vice-President Vadim Morozov. “Interest in the Forum is very high – it is being attended by more than 200 people who represent not only scientific organisations and the 1520 railways, but foreign countries as well,” Mr Morozov said in his speech.

According to Mr. Morozov, the current instability in the global economic system resulting from the systemic causes of the global crisis, primarily the dominance of speculative transactions with “virtual” values, dictates the need to search for new approaches based on the prioritised development of the real sector of the economy. One of the key conditions for this is the rapid development of railway transport, which has entered a phase of innovative renaissance, according to our estimates. Railway transport must be fundamentally modernised in a fast and seamless manner with the introduction of comprehensive innovative solutions.

The Russian Railways Board of Directors has approved a programme for the Company’s innovative development for the period until 2015, which envisions the introduction of new technologies, innovation products and world-class services.
The moderator of the plenary session, Boris Lapidus, D.Sc. in Economics, Professor, General Director, Russian Research and Development Institute of Railway Transport; Chairman, International Railway Research Board at the International Union of Railways, outlined the subject of the discussion: “The Future of Rail Transport. Scientific Achievements as a Catalyst for Transformation in the Industry”.

Russian Railways Senior Vice-President Valentin Gapanovich said the company has created a structure and introduced a corporate system for innovation management that provides the full cycle for introducing innovative projects: from determining strategic areas and targeted parameters of development to generating new products, commercialising them and evaluating the results. A comprehensive package of documents has been adopted establishing the objectives and principles of work on these matters. Particular attention has been devoted to relations with manufacturers. Above all, this involves the creation of effective economic instruments to ensure the guaranteed quality of products as well as their reliability and effectiveness in operation.

Viktor Ivanter, D.Sc. in Economics, Academic, Director, Institute of Transport Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, joining in the discussion, noted that we need to be as careful as possible with the commercialisation of scientific activities since this often impedes the development of scientific thought.

Fyodor Pekhterev, Ph.D. in Economics, General Director, Institute of Transport Economics and Development, stated that the development and introduction of innovation requires a coherent structure in order to obtain the multiplier effect.

Michael Kadow, DB Mobility Logistics AG, presented a concept for scientific research developed by DB Schenker. This research aims to develop logistics solutions that are currently affected by the dispersion of major companies’ production facilities around the world and to strengthen the impact on the logistics of policy and the public.

Alexey Sokolov, D.Sc. in Engineering, Deputy Chairman, Scientific Development and Interaction of the Russian Railways Unified Scientific Council, presented a report titled “The Future of Rail Transport: An Intelligent System for Monitoring Track and Rolling Stock Conditions”.

The speech by Oleg Belov, Director, Institute of Transport Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, summarised the results of the discussions and outlined the priority areas in transport science, which include: ensuring the high-quality features of transport services, minimising the environmental impact of transport activities, establishing principles for the sustainable interaction of different transport types and the rational use of the existing transport complex, creating a common transport space based on the development of transport networks in accordance with the country’s economic balance, and developing scientifically sound architecture for the sustainable management of the transport industry.

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