The Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University (GSOM SPbSU) and VTB Bank demonstrated new formats of joint educational products at the Strong Ideas for a New Time forum, which took place on November 11-13, 2020 in Moscow at the World Trade Center. Participants of the event had the opportunity to practice public speaking skills and learn how to sell banking products in a VR simulator. GSOM SPbU is working on the creation of various immersive formats that allow teaching flexible skills to line managers.

 

The Forum, organized by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) and the Roscongress Foundation, was held for the first time and became a strategically important event in which the President of the Russian Federation took part (in an online format). The forum was also attended by First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Sergey Kirienko, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Belousov, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and Heads of other subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as Heads of relevant ministries and departments.

 

Out of 15 thousand proposals, 300 ideas were chosen for the final of the Forum; some of them were presented by their authors to Vladimir Putin personally. The ideas included in the ASI's top 100, after revision based on expert comments, are planned to be put into practice in Russian regions.

 

According to the results of the expert selection, the project for the development of the infrastructure of electric charging stations and the electric transport market in the regions of the Russian Federation was included in the top 100 Strong Ideas for the New Time. 

 

The complex solution was developed by Maksim Arzumanyan, Senior Lecturer at GSOM SPbU, with the participation of a team of GSOM SPbU alumni. The pilot project is planned to be implemented in 15 Russian regions. By 2023, 4,000 charging stations will be launched and 10 operators of electric charging infrastructure abroad will be created based on technologies and business models developed in Russia.

 

“VTB Bank traditionally supports the Russian economy, technology and social sphere. It is at the intersection of these areas that the strongest ideas are born that can improve the lives of many people. The combination of responsible business, a responsible academic and scientific environment gives impetus to innovative changes, and new technologies allow them to scale. We are glad that strong ambitious projects are being developed with the bank's participation, ” said Olga Dergunova, Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Bank, Director of GSOM SPbSU.

 

The Forum allowed to form a community of initiative people and collect the most promising ideas that will help reboot the economy, social and technological spheres of the country. In view of the relevance of the main topics of the forum and its successful start in 2020, it was decided to hold it on an annual basis in the future.