Russia, which set this year as a “year of science and technology”, is spurring socio-economic development by speeding up the development of high technology.

It fixed a theme for each month of this year, like the “month of development of medical science” for March, “month of conquering outer space” for April and “month of genetics and quality of life” for September, and has carried out a variety of projects.

President Putin, at a video conference of the science and education council in February, said that the competitive edge of the country’s economy and enterprises hinges on the level of scientific and technological development and has direct bearing on the life of residents. As he referred to the projects of national significance, including the development and mass production of domestic high-tech products, the positive introduction of the technology of analyzing and estimating climate change and the application of new technologies to the defence industry, he instructed the government to map out and adopt a new national plan for sci-tech development.

At a recent video conference on the development of genetics he emphasized the need to involve relevant organs and enterprises in implementing the plan for genetic development until 2027 as scheduled and pay close attention to training talents.

He said that it is important to show special concern for legally managing and controlling genetic research and successful introduction of findings and that gene technology forms the basis for rapidly developing many industrial sectors at present. He emphasized that relevant enterprises should be involved actively in the plan for genetic development in order to introduce its successes into the life of citizens.

Presently, ten world-level scientific and educational centres of Russia are stepping up the development of advanced technologies in such promising fields as intelligent service, drone, processing of fertilizer based on industrial waste and development of artificial intelligence.

Russia also attaches importance to its own technical forces.

A knowledge economy zone was recently established in Yakutia, the first of its kind in Russia’s Far East, and it will reportedly be supported by the government. The major activity of the zone is said to be additional education of entrepreneurs.

Russia set the active involvement of young talents in sci-tech undertakings as one of major goals for this “year of science and technology”.

It launched the implementation of the university support programme “Priority-2030”, and is channelling efforts into training scientists of a new generation as it organizes the council for supporting universities and invests large funds in supporting universities and scientific research institutes.