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GLONASS Technopark will be established in Skolkovo

Interdepartmental Working Group on the development and use of GLONASS (IWG) at its meeting on December 18th has approved proposed by Skolkovo Foundation the idea of an establishing a thematic GLONASS Technopark. This Technopark should become an incubator for startups who commercialize GLONASS-based applications and services.

- We have proposed the idea of a technology park for SMEs where they will be able to develop applications, chipsets and element base, - said Director of the Space Technology and Telecommunications Cluster of Skolkovo Foundation Alexei Belyakov. - Companies in the technology park will receive funding from the Skolkovo Foundation as well as from outer co-investors. To organize Technopark we need to attract partners, for example, the GLONASS Union, which joins together of leading telecommunications companies, could be such partner.

In a presentation of the Skolkovo Foundation at the meeting of the IWG were mentioned specific issues to patronize startups: "Provide access to centers of collective use of facilities (satellite systems simulators, antennas, development tools, test benches), attract specialized universities, Skolkovo Tech, arrange a convenient coworking area for residents."

- We think of a step-by-step development, it will be scaled project - said Belyakov. - First, we'll take about 10 companies and see how they will develop. If we see that their business with the support of co-investors and Skolkovo grows then we will expand the Technopark.

The initiative for the creation of GLONASS Technopark was suggested by GLONASS Union President Alexander Gurko this summer. Also Gurko proposed to create a fund to finance the GLONASS developers, and next year the special fund for GLONASS supporting will be establishing by Vnesheconombank: it is about 5 billion rubles of investments by the VEB and 3 billion from private co-investors.

- There is a high necessity of such actions like an establishing of a fund and Technopark - said Gurko. – A few existing Russian developers of navigation chipsets are losing even the domestic market, not to mention the global competition. To ensure the further development of the applications based on GLONASS technology we need to have our own powerful design centers, respectively, we need to grow their developers by creating an infrastructure for them. Professional telematic equipment for transport management systems in Russia is up to 90% of Russian, but navigation receivers are 90% imported. We cannot rely entirely on imported equipment. If their receivers for any reason stop supporting GLONASS, it will lead to the fact that we have a constellation but aren't able to use it.

Two thematic navigation Technoparks are already operating in China, which starts to create a national satellite navigation system BeiDou. One of these industrial parks has already been invested by $1.5 billion, and the other one - about $800 million.

In this November the China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) and the Russian GLONASS Union agreed to establish a joint venture to promote GLONASS/BeiDou-based services worldwide. At the same time partners discussed the feasibility of establishing an international technopark entirely oriented to the navigation.