Answers ABBYY CEO Sergey Andreev to questions from readers Habr. Part 3

Skolkovo and the remaining questions.


Please tell us about the procedure for obtaining a grant and the criteria for the selection of projects. How much the process and expertise seem adequate to you.

Now all decisions regarding the Skolkovo Innovation Center are actually made in a closed mode, with the participation of a dozen giants. It seems that the organizers are not at all interested in the opinion and participation of small and medium businesses. It feels like it's passing by. After all, you and other companies (for example, Yandex) started from something and were also not such a large corporation. 1. Do you think such a policy is correct? 2. And what would you recommend to small companies that are full of ideas and determination to create (or have already created) something new, relevant and unique?
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Sergey, tell us how difficult it was to get into the Skolkovo magazine, what obstacles did you go through? How complicated are the bureaucratic procedures? What is the minimum entry threshold: the number of employees of the company, the scale of the project, the authorized capital of the company, etc.? I would like to hear a detailed response with specifics, from which it was possible to make how to for a small Russian high-tech software development company for space applications. People do not believe in miracles, and do not even try. There are not enough inspiring examples against our reality.

How close to reality what is promised to us in the innovation city at all? According to your feelings, naturally.

After the first news about the creation of the Skolkovo project, we took a cautious and reserved position on the issue of participation in it. Then there were meetings with different people from the Skolkovo team. These meetings made a good impression on me with their dynamics, commitment to success, the desire to get a very difficult problem off the ground. Skolkovo sees his task (in my opinion) in creating a model of proper interaction between business, education, science, finance, and, possibly, the state. It is well seen that the commercialization of results is a significant problem for Russian science. Who owns the results of Russian scientists? How to put them into useful application? Who should do this? Who will get the results of commercial implementations? Was science involved in that, if the results are not applied? Or is there no use because there are not enough special personnel at the interface of science and business? Attempting to answer these questions raises even more questions. This is an obvious headache for a country in which there is still a good education, but which for some reason does not lead to the creation of new high-tech enterprises.

Ambitious challenge? Without a doubt!

When businessmen come and ask, and how will Skolkovo help me, they have a counter question - and how will you help Skolkovo? Because to create this proper synergy between business, education, finance and science requires many very important competences at the junctions of these areas. It requires a desire to work at these junctions, and not just consume benefits and grants.

ABBYY already more than 5 years ago opened a department at the Physics and Technology Institute (MIPT) and systematically engaged in improving education in the field of Computer Science. Our goal is to make at the FIVT (Faculty of Innovations and High Technologies) the best teaching of Computer Science in Russia. To do this, we select modern teachers and pay for their work so that they remain in education, rather than go to computer companies. We are preparing new correct training courses. We bring our students to the company and give them an interesting R & D. We also actively work with linguistic universities and departments.

More recently, we started working on improving the GEF (Federal State Educational Standards) in computer science, because we paid attention to the deterioration in the quality of training for applicants who come to universities for computer science. Now we are actively involved in improving the subject content of computer science in middle and high school. I hope in this part to the new GEF claims will not be.

We actively participate in work with foreign scientists in the field of computational linguistics, participate in international scientific conferences and attract foreign scientists to conduct seminars in Russia. For more than 10 years we ourselves have been organizing the best scientific conference on computational linguistics - Dialogue - and attracting scientists from all over the world.

This is not a commercial break, oddly enough. This is the explanation why we go to Skolkovo and how we were chosen.

We are going to Skolkovo to participate in all sections of this project and help it become successful. We can attract foreign scientists to this project. We have an interesting breakthrough project that has not yet become a business, although it is not a small startup. We know how to commercialize research and can share this knowledge. We can participate in educational projects Skolkovo. Here is a multifaceted compound is obtained.

If all of this turns out or not, it’s not an answer now. I would like it to work out, but the task is very difficult. However, the team there is strong, good. Many people came from successful businesses. And I do not see any corruption there.

Now about the practical side of the issue. Only no complaints. I say in my opinion that I think is right. If it doesn't work, it's not my fault :)

"I will not tell you for all of Odessa, all of Odessa is very great ..."

We are dealing with an IT cluster. It is headed by Alexander Turkot. Here is his interview. In my opinion, it is better to get an answer from the first word about the procedure for obtaining a grant and the criteria for selecting projects.

Here is a link to information on the IT cluster on the Skolkovo website.
There is detailed information on what they do, to whom and what they gave, etc.

As you already understood, our way to Skolkovo is not suitable for everyone, because it combines a lot of simultaneous inputs / connections of interests with this project. If we talk about a small company, which there is supposed to be much more than a large one, then it is very important to what extent it will be possible to fit into this Skolkovo coordinate system: business education-science. First of all, it is important to understand how innovative your project is. This is not an idle question. Skolkovo does not deal with modernization — that is, improvement without the use of something unusual, breakthrough. The criterion of novelty, taking into account world practice, is paramount. This is explained by the fact that Skolkovo cannot accept everyone to himself. It can take only the most promising, breakthrough, unusual. Therefore, innovation, that is, a product that is unique by world standards, an approach, an idea, is the key. Further, your readiness and skills in educational work work. If you can put something on the table in this area - you are already very close to success. If something from your proposal (project) can be used in the work of the Skolkovo project itself - great! Also need to show. There is, of course, another critical characteristic - the ability of the innovator to commercialize. She, too, must be able to prove.

Further, as far as I know, everything is simple. Application form is filled out and sent. As far as I know, there are a lot of applications now, but I don’t know that there are a lot of good applications. Most often something is missing.

As far as I know, the IT cluster of Skolkovo is engaged not only in large Western and Russian companies, but also in start-ups and medium-sized businesses, and also adheres to the maximum openness regime. All projects are presented publicly.

If you are sure that your application is really good in terms of the criteria listed above, then you should try to find verbal contact with the IT cluster. And then everything depends on you and on the quality of your application.

One of the criteria for selection by the expert board of the foundation is the condition that “the project must attract a foreign expert who has considerable authority in the international research environment”. Can you comment? Why is this condition and how important is this criterion when selecting an applicant?

Colleagues, this question was answered well by V.F. Vekselberg, read here .

In society, the attitude towards Skolkovo is completely unequivocal - negative. People do not understand who, why and why gratuitously allocated huge amounts of budget (popular) money. ABBYY has a very good reputation. Did the company calculate reputational risks when entering this project?

Only the one who does nothing is not mistaken. We believe that Skolkovo can be made so that the project will bring very great benefits to the country. Why and why money is allocated, I wrote above. I do not think that it is possible to support any undertaking without allocating money. If there is a task to get away from oil and gas dependence and create a modern economy, then to solve this problem, something must be done and money must be allocated for this. If we assume that any allocation of money is corruption, then we fall into a vicious circle: it is impossible to allocate money - because corruption; it is impossible not to allocate money, because without them the problem cannot be solved. What do we do?

What are the criteria for a joint venture in Skolkovo?

In my opinion, the goal of Skolkovo for specific projects is to create a successful high-tech international business.

What are your personal impressions of communication with the Skolkovo management? Are you sure that these are honest people who sincerely want to develop Russian technologies and who do not think about their profits? What do you think about the high-profile resale by Mr. Vekselberg of the Hungarian trade mission in Moscow to the Russian budget at a seven-fold overstated price?

I see no interest in personal enrichment from the Skolkovo team. I see an interest in solving an ambitious task. That part of the team that I saw is successful and smart people. I am skeptical about the plum on the Internet. I was faced with the fact that when a detailed examination of the content of such "sources" too often surface superficial judgments and significant ellipsis instead of a real fact. To draw conclusions about a person from such sources, to put it mildly, is strange.

Why do you take part in Skolkovo? After all, it would be easy to invest in startups that are interesting for you.

You can participate in Skolkovo and invest in startups themselves.

Please tell us what is required in Russia high-tech firm in terms of communication with government agencies?

Cynically - who “shelters you”? How did you develop the necessary connections? What expenses the company lays in the budget, so as not to have problems with the "vertical of power"; or, in your case, even to be friends with them?

I’m not going to make any discoveries. To successfully communicate with anyone you need to see the interests of your interlocutor, his goals. And then you need to look for ways in which your interests and the interests of the interlocutor coincide. Then there is a topic for joint projects. Any government agency has goals and objectives. They are asked to complete these tasks. If you help in solving these goals and objectives, then you will have successful communication with government agencies.

Since we are not very dependent on the public sector for our income, we often act as independent experts on the development of the IT industry, on various forms of IT support for the industry, on interaction with other countries in the field of IT, on informatization of education.

We have the impression that the “power vertical” is interested in friendship with IT companies, and not in creating problems for them. This is a very strange business. Everything is connected with people. Wells can be divided in a new way and with the new owner (at least for the first time) oil will not be less. But with the IT business is different. If you attack him, then just nothing left. All will scatter in different directions and no source codes with computers will not become a business.

I have the impression that at the high level of the country's leadership there is an understanding of the need to improve the structure of the economy. Therefore, we, like, allies. We work for a common goal.

In your opinion, has the level of fresh graduate engineers increased or decreased over the past 10 years? Where does one really find talents? What is your personnel tracking program - from school?

If by “level” of graduates to mean their readiness to start work immediately, then in general the situation has not changed much in 10 years. In general, graduates are not ready to work, their knowledge of Computer Science is not up to par.

That is why in 2006 we opened the ABBYY department at MIPT (details above). In addition to the department at MFTI, ABBYY, naturally, is looking for young developers in other faculties and other universities. We offer young talented children quite attractive conditions - decent wages, flexible schedules, the ability to combine work and study, the ability to use work projects for diplomas and coursework, and most importantly - the opportunity to learn in practice from their fellow professionals.

As for tracking talented children from school, this is a very interesting topic. We are seriously thinking about its implementation in the framework of educational projects ABBYY. Follow the news :)

R & D in Russia outside of 10-20 large companies is still real, do you think?

Full Believe in yourself.

Why aren't desktop products released under Linux or have I not found them on the site? Insufficient market share, doubts about the solvency of users, any other reasons?

They write here that they plan to release products for Linux: www.bigness.ru/articles/2011-01-19/news/121056 Now I would like to receive confirmation from the main thing: is it true? And, if true, then what exactly and when are you planning to release?

Previously, the lack of a Linux version was due to lack of promise, since it is not enough users, so, there is no sense to invest money. Now the full-scale transition of government organizations to Linux-based operating systems begins, and you received a good grant from the state. In this regard, the following chain of questions:

1. Will there be a version of ABBYY Lingvo and ABBYY FineReader under Linux?
2. If the answer to the 1st question is “yes”, will it be fully functional?
3. If the answer to the 2nd question is "no", then why?

Here www.rbcdaily.ru/2011/01/18/media/562949979561129 write that "Perhaps, however, we will slightly limit the functionality in comparison with the original versions of programs under Windows." Hence, in fact, the question is: how is it that a program will be issued [including] for public money, the functionality of which will be reduced to the public operating system compared to other AEs?

We have a very positive attitude towards Linux. No prejudice or discrimination. But it is very important for us to follow the economy of our actions. There are companies that rely on other incomes to distribute open-source products for free. Typically, this charity is microdio from their large incomes. We still can not do that. Not accumulated financial strength for such free projects.

Now on desktop computers the share of DIFFERENT VERSIONS of Linux is about 5%. Accordingly, for each version you need to port and test the application, prepare documentation for support, etc. All this work is a very expensive pleasure, which with the current figures of the penetration of different versions of Linux to the masses will not pay off.

If the state manages to STANDARDIZE Linux as a platform (i.e., if the variety of versions is greatly reduced), then we port our products to this platform. Therefore, the answer to the question on the timing of product release is tied to decisions that are not made by us. At the same time, there is a feeling that these decisions will most likely be made and, fortunately for Linux, to be!

The functionality of any product for a specific OSes is determined by what needs of users of this OSes it satisfies. You are not “new Russians” who need “full stuffing and more expensive.” If the majority of users of the operating system does not require all the functions of the product, then we consider porting all the functions incorrect. After all, excessive functionality is harmful - it makes the product more complex and difficult to manufacture, develop and use.

There is one important segment where the size of the market is quite significant - these are Linux developers who need our libraries from ABBYY FineReader. This segment became significant a few years ago, and we launched a product for it - ABBYY FineReader Engine . It is available and in demand.

What is the date when FineReader will become open source software?

Open source software? We do not plan. A lot of work has been invested in them and I would like a reasonable reward for my work. And in the sense of the form of delivery on Linux, when the delivery itself is free of charge, but the customer pays for updates and support - maybe we will. Depends on demand. There is a noticeable demand - an offer appears.

How many years have you enjoyed skiing? And which countries / places do you prefer?

Already do not remember. Probably 15 years old. I like the Alps. In Austria there are very soulful villages, people live in them and everything has been done for themselves, very comfortable. There are good skiing regions in France, but often the resort itself is not a real settlement with the locals, but a collection of hotels on the mountain. Comfort less. Italy is well fed and generally cheaper, but it is the southern side of the Alps and there is often not enough snow. As a result, now I probably like Ischgl the most. A good combination of trails and off-pistes, cozy.

Have you tried snowboarding and why did you choose skis?

Snowboarding is good for acrobatics, and for this I am already too old :) Snowboarding is good for freeride, but a trained skier also feels good in deep snow. Snowboard is less versatile than skis. Long vykaty - death of a snowboarder (or, to put it differently, is a fascinating leisurely walk through the fresh air and beautiful scenery). And I feel very uncomfortable with tied legs. This is probably very subjective.

Winner of the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology. Did you get this for the work of your programmers?

I also go to work :) And not only I sign papers. Have you ever tried to manage a company of intellectuals a thousand people in size?

Is it true that recognition technologies in the future will be used to control Combat Humanoid-like robots?

For sure.

1. ABBYY Compreno
Part 2. Grant