20 June 2016

Do you want milk without a cow

Professor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lauren Graham at the session of the economic forum in St. Petersburg negatively answered the question of the head of Sberbank of Russia, German Gref, "whether the Russian Federation will be able to compete" with the West. The American stressed that Russia "definitely could not reap the fruits of the fourth technological revolution," and little Switzerland exports three times more than the Russian Federation. According to the scientist, Russians know how to invent, but they cannot implement innovations. Graham noted that in Russia they are trying to separate technology from the sociopolitical system, trying to "get milk without a cow."

There are many inventors in Russia, but few innovators – MIT Professor Lauren Graham

"Russian Education"

There are many inventors in Russia, but few innovators – this is exactly the problem of technological growth, says Professor Lauren Graham of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

"An innovator is more than an inventor. You need to take a product or process and make it commercially successful – not only for you, but for the whole society. Russians are great at inventing, but they are very bad at innovation," Graham said at the plenary session of SPIEF 2016.

As an example, he cited a light bulb, a radio, a computer invented in Russia, as well as the technology of hydraulic fracturing of an oil reservoir developed in the 50s by Soviet scientists - all these inventions and technologies were successfully mastered abroad, but Russia itself never entered the international market with its products.

"The reason lies not in the lack of abilities and talents, but in the fact that in Russia it was not possible to build a society where the achievements of citizens could be implemented in life. For some reason, everyone thinks that it's about technology, but it's about the socio–political and economic environment," the professor stressed.

According to him, it is necessary to create a special atmosphere for the development of innovations. This is a democratic environment, intellectual property protection, control over corruption, the possibility of critical assessments, the right to fail.

"The idea as such is not enough," Graham concluded.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  20.06.2016

Found a typo? Select it and press ctrl + enter Print version