Technological competition is gaining momentum in the Arctic, the discussion club participants agreed at a roundtable on Innovations for Sustainable Development of the Russian Arctic: Relevance, Problems and Prospects at the Project Office for the Development of the Arctic expert center.
Oleg Sharipov from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research presented an overview of developments that may be applicable in the Arctic including robotics, natural science research, new materials and other areas. Basic research is the foundation for the future development of the region.
Natalia Polkovnikova, Head of New Initiatives at Global Innovation Labs, highlighted three major areas of using applied innovations in the Arctic zone: food, energy, and construction.
Pre-fabricated construction technology for the Arctic that does not require highly skilled builders was presented at the roundtable by Anatoly Fyodorov, General Director of Teplorium LLC. The components for such buildings can be transported by helicopter or even by drones. Grigory Pakalin from the EcoArchitecture company presented a project to build a processing station that burns waste to produce electricity.
Another important area of innovation is transport. Bauman Moscow State Technical University is developing an underwater remote-controlled robot and an arctic truck in collaboration with Kamaz.