On August 30, GS Group holding company arranged a study tour around Technopolis GS for nearly two-dozen European and Russian participants of the ERSA Congress. This gave a great visual presentation for potential economical and innovative development of the region with business support. Delegates took part in the tour around six existing industries and the residential area. Afterwards the delegates were taken to the GS Nanotech, microelectronic product development and manufacturing center, and were hosted at a round table dedicated to the innovative development of small towns.
Among the speakers at the round table were K.E. Axenov, Ph.D. in economic and social geography, Vice-president of GS Group, K.V.Kozlov, First Deputy Head of Gusev urban district administration, D.P. Brovarny, Head of the Innovative Development Department at Corporation of the Kaliningrad region development, E.N. Kanaeva, Director of the Gusev Polytechnic College, as well as experts from the ERSA Congress attendees. The main topic discussed was the issue of ensuring successful, simultaneous and sustainable development for innovative businesses in a small town, as well as having the capacity and opportunity for future development within the Kaliningrad region. One of the main assumptions was that private innovative businesses would make the driver of such development for international competition resulting in small towns being able to enter global markets as its own separate entity. Thus, the concentration of a class of creative people in one area will likely create global competitiveness and give a cumulative effect in the form of innovative rents. During lively discussions, participants came to the conclusion that the implementation of such projects as Technopolis GS will be beneficial to the economic development of small towns and the Kaliningrad region as a whole.
The 54th ERSA Congress in St. Petersburg is included in the list of formal events in the Year of Science Russia–EU 2014. The key topic was the best practices for regional development and globalization.
"We expect scientists from around the world to share fresh ideas with each other. The problems are unique in each country, but there are also common challenges. Therefore, we can always improve the situation in our world by using an integrated approach to address these challenges", – commented Jouke Van Dijk, President of ERSA.
Konstantin Axenov, the Vice-president of GS Group, Ph.D. in economic and social geography, Associate Professor, Head of Educational Profiles for the Master's program in Political Geography and Geopolitics at the Institute of Earth Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, noted that the exchange of ideas between European and Russian scientists within such congresses allows formation of practical plans of action. In particular, the ability to implement regional development in specified areas. The private innovation cluster Technopolis GS of GS Group holding company as the project initiator and investor was introduced as a bright example of turning an idea into a successful project.
"Technopolis GS project is an innovation cluster that's aimed at gathering specialists in one field on a single territory, improving the life quality of the local community, developing innovative technological production innovations and generating competition that actively contributes to the development and interaction of business and science. As the main result we consider the formation and maintenance of principles for self-development and self-organization of the town in the region", – Konstantin Axenov, Vice-president of GS Group.
