Microsoft to Skolkovo

2010: Memorandum of understanding

In November, 2010 according to the agreement signed by Victor Vekselberg, the president of Skolkovo Foundation, and the head of Microsoft corporation Steve Ballmer to the letter of intent of the party plan:

• Placement of Microsoft development center in the territory Skolkovo.
• Carrying out scientific research together with the Russian universities and scientific institutes.
• Expansion of the program for support of the Russian innovation startups.
• Creation of the Center of collective access to information technologies.
• Participation in creation of the Skolkovo technology university.

2011: The agreement on development of education to Skolkovo

On March 24, 2011 the Vice president of Skolkovo Foundation, it is the general manager of this fund by training and to researches Oleg Alekseev, signed with the president of Microsoft Russia Nikolay Pryanishnikov the agreement on strategic cooperation in the field of development of education in future innovation center. One of the directions of this cooperation is creation of Skolkovo school - the innovation general education educational institution.

The concept and the plan of creation of school it is not developed yet – the parties only start it. According to Alekseev, an institution in Skolkovo, perhaps, will differ from normal comprehensive school in the level of an academic load, but not only. "If the school issues the Russian certificates, it, certainly, it is necessary to be guided by the educational standards adopted in Russia. But on the other hand, we can intensify, first, educational process is a question of techniques of teaching and also to support him technology and to construct a modern management system for school", - Alekseev notes.

The vice president of Skolkovo Foundation also told that as envisioned at school will study jointly both children from local municipal entities, and children of the Russian and foreign citizens who arrived to Skolkovo, for example, to teach at the university, to work in development centers of the large companies or to develop there the startup. "It is special cultural situation which in itself for Russia is a call and an innovation", - Alekseev considers.

The personnel for teaching at the innovation school, according to the representative Skolkovo, is going "be looked for across all Russia", prepare independently and, perhaps, involve in teaching the specialists working in projects of the innovation center.

For planning of creation of school the task force which participants of Education Impact (the international educational community as a part of which - experts in strategy, planning, techniques in the field of education) and the leading Russian scientists will enter will be created. According to Nikolay Pryanishnikov, with participation in creation of school to Skolkovo Microsoft is going to consider the experience of creation of the innovation schools in other countries.

The most advanced schools in Microsoft call "school of the future" in Philadelphia (USA) and Kent (Great Britain) where the innovation teacher's methods integrate with the latest technologies. Pryanishnikov hopes that the school to Skolkovo will become the third which can be cited as an example. According to Mary Kullinane (Mary Cullinane), the director of strategy and innovations in formation of Microsoft, all in the world there are about 4 thousand schools where experience of "schools of the future" of Philadelphia and Kent is in a varying degree used.

"We also calculate, as talented specialists in education who will be included into expert advice, and scientists, will make a number of interesting proposals. Then, with the international experience and our innovations, "school of the future" can be spread around to all Russia, and, we hope, will become the best world example", - Pryanishnikov noted.

In school it is going to invest means which "the state" for creation entrusted fund Skolkovo, Alekseev explains. "I also think that a part of those means which will be received by Skolkovo management company from leasing of property, etc. perhaps, will go for creation of the best financial conditions for school", - he says.

About whether Microsoft will make own money and software in creation of school, the parties did not agree yet. "As practice of creation of schools of the future in other countries shows, the main deposit which does Microsoft - it is people. So, in Philadelphia 40 employees of Microsoft worked on the project within 6-7 years", - noted chapter of Microsoft Russia.

2012: Expansion of obligations

On November 6, 2012, two years later after signing by the head of Microsoft Steve Ballmer and president Skolkovo Victor Vekselberg of the memorandum of understanding, Microsoft expanded former arrangements. This time in the presence of Ballmer the document on it was signed by the senior vice president Skolkovo Igor Drozdov and the president of vendor in Russia Nikolay Pryanishnikov.

The American side almost at once after emergence of the first document, without waiting for the end of building in the innovation center, began to form the Russian team of programmers. Ballmer estimated the total amount of investments of the company into the innovation center at "tens of millions of dollars" annually. For November, 2012 in the center of Research and Development Microsoft about 70 people work, said in the company, and by 2015 is going to double this number. The directions of researches in which these staff^[1] will be engaged are listed in the new document^[1].

First, it is development of cross-platform mobile software for broadcast of multimedia data. Such information transfer will have to happen as in real time, and in the mode of asynchronous communication, i.e. to delays in delivery. In addition to multi-platform architecture about it software knows that it will have to work in any wireless networks, including Wi-Fi, 3G and LTE.

Secondly, in Skolkovo software will be developed for "cloud" storage system, the analysis and processing of multimedia data. Researches for recognitions in such information, persons, etc. for "increase in relevance of the made content for users" will be talked.

As for partnership of the center of Research and Development of Microsoft with other organizations, in addition to involvement of experts from its foreign divisions, Skolkovo (OTUS), the Skolkovo institute of science and technology (Skoltech) and other Russian universities is going to cooperate with the Open university.

In addition to new arrangements of the party summed up the results of two years. From joint works providing grants of Seed Financing Fund of Microsoft to resident startups Skolkovo, discounts for them were during this time selected upon purchase of software of vendor, participation of staff of the company in creation of data center Skolkovo, software development under Microsoft Dynamics, etc.