In Tomsk, the presidential commission for modernization met Wednesday with representatives of several major companies. President Dmitry Medvedev made it clear at once to these enterprises why he had selected them specifically and proposed revising the meaning of social responsibility.
The president told the guest companies that they had all at various times received impressive support from the state at different stages of their development: by transfer of resources in the 90s or through state guarantees or purchases of tax preferences during the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
Medvedev proposed revising how the concept of social responsibility is understood by business — it should not be mere charity but rather a practical focus on innovation.
He urged companies to fund science more actively, to create innovative clusters to develop innovative ideas and bring them to market. Medvedev also invited big business to establish a major innovation center, having signed an order for its creation in December 2009. “Of course, it won’t be Silicon Valley, but it should become a major testing ground for running our new innovation policy,” he said. “There is no shortage of ideas — the Russian Academy of Science, for example, has made the commission a lot of proposals that could be financed.”
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