Programme

The advance of digitalisation is driving fundamental changes in all areas of human life. The rapidly growing amount of information is leading to increasing demand for AI technologies and the high-speed processing of big data. These technologies are not only driving growth in new markets but are also playing an increasingly important role in our society, helping us to find solutions to global problems such as the ageing population, disease control, social stratification and environmental degradation. We are gradually creating a smart society based on the values of empowerment, flexibility and creativity. How will digitalisation help us to overcome global challenges and threats? What are the risks of digital inequality for business and society? What is the impact of digitalisation on business processes and which pressure points does it help to overcome? How can we ensure the digital competitiveness of the Russian regions? How can the state support the development of a digital economy?

Moderator
Vadim Kovalev, First Deputy Executive Director, Russian Managers Association

Vadim Kovalev

First Deputy Executive Director, Russian Managers Association

Born on May 9, 1984 in Moscow. Vadim Kovalyov graduated from the Law School of the Russian Law Academy of the Ministry of Justice, majoring in law, and the School of History, Political Science and Law, majoring in Public Relations. Mr. Kovalyov’s professional background involves executive agencies and non-profit organizations. He is a lecturer at the Russian University of Economics and Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Vadim Kovalyov is a member of Moscow City Public Chamber, the Chairman of the Commission on Employment Assistance for Graduates (Youth Council, Ministry of Science and Education) and a member of the Federal Expert Council on Volunteering. Mr. Kovalyov initiative helped creating the National Council for Corporate Volunteering. He organized volunteer assistance to the aggrieved people of Krasnodar Region, the Far East, Syria and the refugees from the South-Eastern part of Ukraine.

Panellists
Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank
Leonid Gokhberg, First Vice Rector, Director of the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, National Research University Higher School of Economics
Jose Luis Cordeiro, Director of the Millennium Project
Ozcan Saritas, Editor-in-Chief, Foresight
Vyacheslav Shulenin, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, State Development Corporation "VEB.RF"

Alexander Vedyakhin

First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank

Leonid Gokhberg

First Vice Rector, Director of the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, National Research University Higher School of Economics

First Vice-Rector, National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE); Director, HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge
He has co-ordinated dozens of national and international projects, e. g. those sponsored by various national authorities, regional agencies, companies, and international organizations such as OECD, European Commission, Eurostat, World Bank, UNESCO, UNIDO, IIASA etc., in the areas of science, technology and innovation (STI) indicators, analyses, foresight and policies. Key national projects implemented under his guidance include S&T Foresight 2030, Regional Innovation Ranking, Doing Science, Global Technology Trends Monitoring, Public Awareness of STI, Analysis of Innovation Activities of Industrial Companies and R&D Institutions, Monitoring of the Labor Market for Ph.D. Holders, etc.
Leonid Gokhberg is a member of the OECD and Eurostat working groups on indicators for STI, Information Society and Education; International Advisory Board of the Global Innovation Index (WIPO/INSEAD), and several other national and international high-level advisory groups on technology foresight and STI policies.
Professor Gokhberg is Editor-in-Chief of the Moscow-based scientific journal Foresight and STI Governance, indexed in SCOPUS and Web of Science, editor of the Springer academic book series Science, Technology, and Innovation Studies, and an editorial board member at Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Technovation, and Foresight (Emerald).
He authored over 400 papers published in peer-reviewed journals, several monographs, and textbooks for universities.
He holds Ph.D. and Doctor of Sciences degrees and is Professor of Economics.

Jose Luis Cordeiro

Director of the Millennium Project

Jose Cordeiro is an engineer, economist, futurist, and transhumanist, who has worked on different areas including economic development, international relations, Latin America, the European Union, monetary policy, comparison of constitutions, energy trends, cryonics, and longevity.
J. Cordeiro obtained Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) and Master of Science (M.Sc.) degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA. He subsequently studied International Economics and Comparative Politics at Georgetown University in Washington, USA, and obtained a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France, majoring in Finance and Globalization. He started his doctoral degree at MIT, continued these studies in Tokyo, Japan, and in due course received his PhD at Universidad Simón Bolívar (USB) in Caracas, Venezuela.
After graduating, Cordeiro worked as a petroleum exploration engineer for Schlumberger. He next served as an advisor for many major oil companies, including BP, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, PDVSA, Pemex, Petrobras, Shell and Total. Later, in Paris, he consulted for Booz Allen Hamilton as a specialist in strategy, restructuring, and finance.
Jose Cordeiro is an international fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), executive director of the Ibero-American Futurists Network, director of The Millennium Project, Vice-chair of Humanity+, and former director of the Club of Rome (Venezuela Chapter), the World Transhumanist Association and the Extropy Institute.
He has also been invited faculty at institutions like the Institute of Developing Economies IDE – JETRO in Tokyo, Japan, the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico, Singularity University at NASA Ames in Silicon Valley, California, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia.
He has authored several books, including The Great Taboo, Constitutions Around the World: A Comparative View from Latin America, El Desafio Latinoamericano (The Latin American challenge) and La Muerte de la Muerte (The death of death).

Ozcan Saritas

Editor-in-Chief, Foresight

Research Professor and Deputy Head of the Research Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.
Editor-in-Chief of Foresight: the journal of future studies, strategic thinking and policy.
O. Saritas is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, University of Manchester, UK.
Ozcan is engaged in various research and teaching activities. His research activity has been focused mostly upon long-term policy and strategy making with particular emphasis upon Foresight methodologies and their implementation in socio-economic and technological fields at the supra-national, national, regional and sectoral levels. With a PhD from the “Foresight and Prospective Studies Programme” of the University of Manchester, Ozcan has introduced novel concepts like “Systemic Foresight Methodology (SFM)”, which has been applied successfully to address long term issues involved in Sustainable Development, Renewable Energies, ICTs, and Development and Poverty.
Ozcan has been engaged in large scale multinational research and consultancy projects focussing on wide variety of areas including “Research and Innovation Foresight for Europe 2030 (RIF2030)”; “Scanning for Emerging Science and Technology Issues (SESTI)”; and “The Future Impact of Security and Defence Policies on the European Research Area (SANDERA)”. He has been recently awarded a research grant by the Rockefeller Foundation for a Horizon Scanning project to envisage futures for the developmental issues in Africa and Asia.
Ozcan has taken part in the design and implementation of executive education courses on foresight concepts and methods in Manchester and in collaboration with international organisations such as the UNIDO, European Commission and European Science Foundation. As a Research Professor at the Higher School of Economics, Ozcan advises on national, sectoral and corporate Foresight programmes, and delivers lectures to Masters students on Foresight and Information Technologies.
He has attended a number of conferences and have given keynote speeches on foresight. He has collaborated with a number of policy-makers, researchers and corporate managers, particularly from Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa which has provided great opportunities to expand his networks across the globe.
Ozcan conducts Horizon Scanning activities through continuous monitoring of the Trends, Drivers of Change, Weak Signals, Wild Cards and Discontinuities with a global scale Big Picture Survey. The scanning work suggests an adequate number of critical uncertainties and polarities, which allow to capture unexpected disruptive events, which may result with a potential opportunities and risks.

Vyacheslav Shulenin

Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, State Development Corporation "VEB.RF"

Front row participant
Roman Shpakov, Chief Executive Officer, JCS Finance Group QBF

Roman Shpakov

Chief Executive Officer, JCS Finance Group QBF