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U.S., Russia Advance Tech Talks
by Danielle Belopotosky
U.S. and Russian science and technology officials on Tuesday released recommendations to promote partnerships between the nations aimed at spurring technological innovation.
During the second meeting of the U.S.-Russia Innovation Council on High Technologies, which was held in Washington, government officials and industry representatives produced three recommendations to promote the commercialization of technological innovations and cooperation of the business and scientific communities in the two nations.
"These three recommendations ... will be the tip of the iceberg" to advance bilateral cooperation across universities, the public and private sectors, and among science and tech institutions, Sergey Mazurenko of Russia's Ministry of Education and Science, said via a translator. He spoke at a briefing held at the Commerce Department.
The council's first recommendation is the creation of new programs to link the research and development, business, and investment communities in both countries in an effort to "stimulate joint commercialization of innovative technologies." The council further identified six priorities for program development, including nanotechnology, alternative energy sources and energy-saving technologies, the life sciences, environmentally friendly technologies, information technology and civilian counter-terrorism technologies.
To attract private investment in the science and technology sectors, the council recommended measures to reduce the risks for investors, such as improving intellectual property protections and providing tax incentives. With the recommendation, said George Atkinson, the science and technology adviser to the U.S. secretary of State, "we begin to deal with some of the practical issues that might prevent optimizing the use of these investments."
A final recommendation is to better share information and "best practices" in both nations to promote the commercialization of technologies.
Mazurenko said the council's working groups identified some 30 focus areas, but pared them to the most "significant and important ones." He said that "comprehensive and systematic approach" highlights science, technology and the commercialization of future innovations.
The council was created in 2004 by the U.S. Commerce Department and Russian Industry, Science and Technology Ministry. President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the group in 2002. This week's gathering was the second formal meeting.
Stimulating Tech Innovation In Russia
Also on Tuesday, Russia announced plans for six special economic zones to stimulate technological innovation.
Russia currently has 61 innovation and technology centers, 44 technology parks and 57 centers for technological transfers, Mazurenko said. The new centers should help establish the infrastructure to help new technologies gain market access, he added.
IBM announced last week that the company would offer free resources to software developers in Russia to deploy applications based on open standards in order to tap the country's "booming software development market."
The company also launched a Web site for software developers, where they can download free versions of IBM software, trial codes and tutorials. IDC predicts that Russia's developer population will grow 40 percent by 2008, according to an IBM statement.
IBM, Dell, Intel and Sun Microsystems are among the tech companies that operate research and development facilities in Russia.
As Russia's IT market grows, its educated workforce follows. In 2004, more than 68,000 students graduated with master's degrees in computer science or software engineering, according to Auriga Research. More than 1.3 million Russian students hold IT-related degrees.
Furthermore, more than half of all Russian college students major in math or the sciences, according to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Frenchman Prevails In File-Sharing Case
A district court in Paris has ruled in favor of a defendant who downloaded copyrighted material from the Internet, according to the Association of Audionautes.
In the Dec. 8 decision, which was released earlier this week, the court authorized the sharing of music files via peer-to-peer computer networks sharing for personal use. The ruling is consistent with a "private copying" doctrine, according to the group.
"It is an important stepping stone in our fight to legalize P2P," Jean-Baptiste Soufron, legal counsel of the association, said in a statement. The French Parliament is considering legislation to legalize P2P networks.
The defendant, G. Anthony, was sued in September 2004 by France's Civil Society of Phonographic Producers, after 1,875 music and video files were found on his computer's hard drive. The group sued him for downloading and copying 1,212 music files to his computer.
The society has appealed the court's ruling. In the meantime, charges have been dropped against Anthony. He was defended by the Association of Audionautes, a nonprofit founded by high-school and college students to provide legal counsel for those targeted in lawsuits by the recording industry. Today, it is comprised of more than 6,000 students, lawyers and artists.
The European Path To Digital Television
The European Commission on Tuesday said a mandatory deployment of digital, interactive television services is "not necessary." Rather, voluntary, industry-led initiatives should drive compatibility among interactive services.
"I want to accelerate the take-up of digital television in Europe," Viviane Reding, the European Union commissioner for information society and media, said in a statement. But "our policy is to encourage investment and promote freedom for industry to innovate." She said the commission's focus for now is to ensure a smooth transition to DTV. The EU transition is slated for 2012.
Reding further stated that because the ability of devices to work together no longer is a major obstacle for interactive television, voluntary standards are the best way to achieve the widespread digital deployment. Interactive services include those that let viewers with digital receivers, such as personal video recorders, interact with broadcasters, play games or send messages.
More than 47 million digital receivers are in use across Europe. Twenty-six million were developed with proprietary technology, while some 4 million were developed with an open standard recognized by the commission.
The United Kingdom has Europe's highest concentration of digital technology, with roughly 64 percent of viewers owning receivers. Next in line are Italy, Sweden and Finland. In the United States, almost 50 percent of households have digital receivers.
In other news, the European Commission on Tuesday said more needs to be done to open market access for electronic communications. While Reding said a single set of EU rules has helped foster competition, the commission said "much remains to be done."
In a September 2005 study of market competition, 123 of the 152 markets analyzed were found to be uncompetitive. That included 18 categories across the 25 EU nations. The categories include fixed-line access, high-speed Internet service and mobile service, among others. Of 450 total EU markets, only 19 were found to be fully competitive.
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