DataArt Participates In Important US-Russian Technology Symposium

Russia needs to transform its national policies to expand its presence in the global information technologies. This was a dominant theme at the US-Russian Technology Conference held the week of January 28 at Stanford University in California.

Mark Minevich, DataArt strategic advisor, and Michael Zaitsev, DataArt CEO, made numerous industry and government contacts while attending the conference. Minevich was invited to a special meeting with Andrei Fursenko, Russian Minister of Science and Technology, who told the conference that the coming year will be devoted to "The Innovative Economy." In addition, Minevich and Zaitsev met with over 100 senior corporate executives, government officials, and academics during the conference.

The conference focused on how Russia is changing its policies to build an IT industry. Among the themes were:

• Various US programs geared to stimulate trade and innovation with Russia.
• Russia's need to transform its national policies to move beyond such standard industries as oil and energy.
• Lack of business and management skills in Russia.
• The untapped potential in Russia's technological and intellectual assets.

Many panelists also agreed that in order to recreate a high-tech boom, Russia will need more active government involvement and better managers -- drawn from the many Russian expatriates living in the United States.

The conference also provided Minevich and Zaitsev the opportunity for a meeting with Glenn Ricart, current head of PWC Advanced Research. Ricart, former CTO of Novell, serves as chairman of the Technology Leadership Council of California, and is a founder of DARPANET.

While at the conference, Minevich and Zaitsev also had the opportunity to continue their dialogue with DataArt strategic advisors Stephen Weidenholtz and Sheldon Breiner. Weidenholtz is founder of the Bentley Group, a management consultancy, providing services to chairmen and boards of financial institutions worldwide. Breiner is the principal in New Ventures West, a sole proprietorship used as his personal high tech business incubator.