The 3rd Future Technologies Forum has concluded in Moscow. The event, which was dedicated to new materials and chemistry, brought together scientists, representatives of the business community, and government officials to discuss strategic objectives related to developing the new materials and chemistry industry as the main component of the innovative economy for the long term.

“Individual innovative industries cannot develop without their own independent material base – raw materials, technologies and business processes. The new materials and chemistry industries provide the Russian economy with alloys, composites, polymers, basic substances, and high-tech materials, and this is the industry that should be innovative above all others,” Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and Co-Chairman of the Future Technologies Forum’s Organizing Committee Denis Manturov said.

PARTICIPANTS

The Forum was attended by representatives of Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chad, China, France, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, the Republic of South Ossetia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

“The Future Technologies Forum once again showed there is a high level of interest on the part of the scientific community, business, and the government, and the international participants were well represented too. The Forum brought together more than 1,700 participants from Russia and 37 foreign countries, including more than 350 representatives of Russian and foreign businesses. The industry of new materials and chemistry has become the focus of a separate national project concerning technological leadership, since innovative development in this area stimulates other sectors of the economy and provides competitive advantages. The steps needed to achieve such leadership were discussed in detail during the two days of the Forum,” Adviser to the Russian President and Executive Secretary of the Future Technologies Forum’s Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov said.

The Forum participants included Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin, Russian Presidential Aide Andrey Fursenko, Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov, Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, Krasnoyarsk Territory Governor Mikhail Kotyukov, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General Alexey Likhachev, Minister for Strategic Planning of Honduras Ricardo Arturo Salgado Bonilla, and Nenad Popovic, a Serbian minister without portfolio who is responsible for international economic cooperation and the social status of the church in Serbia and abroad.

BUSINESS PROGRAMME

The business programme, which was divided into four thematic blocks, included 37 sessions with more than 230 speakers and moderators.

During the key sessions of the Forum, representatives of major Russian manufacturing companies, research institutes, and government bodies discussed a wide range of projects involving new materials and chemistry, ways to use artificial intelligence in chemistry and materials science, quantum communications, prospects for the new materials industry, including for the development of Arctic territories, space, and nuclear energy, as well as measures to support research and experimental developments and integrate them into industrial production.

During the discussions, the event participants repeatedly stated that new materials are crucial to the modern world, since they determine what the technologies of the future will be.

The discussion participants noted that the development of digital technologies is already making it possible to create products from innovative materials that best suit the needs of customers, conduct tests, monitor their operation, and assess all risks in real time. Only a combination of digital design, additive manufacturing, and the technologies that are currently being developed will help to obtain products with complex geometry and a unique composition that ensures the range of required properties.

The experts spoke about solutions that they believe will accelerate the introduction of new materials and ensure Russia’s technological independence.

“Russia is implementing the national project ‘New Materials and Chemistry’, one of the building blocks of the foundation of the country’s technological sovereignty in such areas as chemistry, rare earth materials, composites, and biotechnologies, which will ensure a synergistic effect in the cluster of fundamental and applied science and new materials, and their integration into industries,” Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov said during the session ‘Prospects for the New Materials Industry: Product–Manufacturing–Sale’.

One of the key discussion topics at the Forum was the training of personnel for the new materials and chemistry industry. The Forum participants believe it is crucial to form a new paradigm of engineering education that would combine fundamental knowledge and modern digital technologies by creating advanced engineering schools, updating curricula with an emphasis on digital technologies, as well as modelling and using artificial intelligence in the development of materials.

A number of discussions were held at the panel sessions dedicated to international cooperation and the implementation of joint projects. The participants spoke about how to maintain technological sovereignty while developing cooperation with foreign partners.

PLENARY SESSION

The key event of the Forum was the plenary session, which was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The plenary session was also attended by Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre President Mikhail Kovalchuk, Laboratory Director at Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Doctor of Chemical Sciences Valentin Ananikov, Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre Presidential Aide Vladislav Antipov, Director of the Laboratory of Materials Science and Study of Materials Properties at Luch Research Institute and Scientific and Production Association and Candidate of Chemical Sciences Nadezhda Potekhina, and Director of the Scientific Group of the Russian Quantum Centre, Director of the Laboratory of Physics of Magnetic Heterostructures and Spintronics for Energy-Saving Information Technologies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), and Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Alexander Chernov.

“The theme of this Forum is chemistry and the use of new materials. These are truly extensive cross-cutting areas that largely dictate how humanity will move forward, as well as the implementation of the most daring plans of engineers and designers. Rapid changes are currently taking place in these areas, which, in turn, pave the way and spur on the next, even more revolutionary discoveries in healthcare, industry, and microelectronics, in the creation of unmanned systems, and in all areas without exception. It is abundantly clear: in order to be among the leaders in key areas of scientific and technological development, and this is the goal we have set for ourselves, we need to achieve superiority in chemistry and the creation of new materials,” Vladimir Putin said in his opening remarks at the plenary session.

Vladimir Putin said that Russia needs to offer competitive solutions and products in terms of their price, quality, and, most importantly, innovativeness, and have its own unique technological keys that will enable it to produce and export products of the highest standards to global markets instead of just primary raw materials.

The Russian president called for solving problems in the chemical industry “at a fundamentally new technological level, using achievements in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics, and other tools that aim to increase labour productivity, including in science.”

Vladimir Putin also spoke about the need to intensify the relationship between science and business and called for additional resources to support promising, breakthrough areas of scientific and technological development.

“External problems and sanctions, with all the challenges and difficulties, have played an important stimulating role for us. Russian companies are now increasingly turning to our own scientists, and they receive such assistance from them. Moreover, domestic solutions often turn out to be more effective than their foreign analogues,” Vladimir Putin said.

Commenting on Vladimir Putin’s speech, Mikhail Kovalchuk, who moderated the plenary session, spoke about the priority focuses of modern materials science: “With the current manufacturing methods, up to 80% of energy and matter goes to waste, essentially polluting the environment [...] And in this regard, the key challenge of our time is to create nature-like additive technologies. And the second focus area is the creation of bio-like, biocompatible materials.”

During the Forum, Vladimir Putin visited an exhibition of technological achievements to view the latest advancements in chemistry and new materials.

EXHIBITION

The Forum featured an exhibition of cutting-edge developments, at which major Russian corporations and scientific organizations presented the latest achievements of science-intensive companies and industries.

“The joint work of representatives of science, business, and the government is of paramount importance in achieving Russia’s technological leadership, which is a national goal set by President Vladimir Putin. The Future Technologies Forum exhibition demonstrates striking examples of such collaboration. It presents dozens of the latest domestic developments that are being integrated into industrial production and have high export potential,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said during his inspection of the exhibition.

The exhibition stand of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade demonstrated the latest developments and samples in four areas of the national project: rare earth metals, chemistry, biotechnologies, and composite materials. They include innovations in medicine and agriculture: bioproducts, feed additives, and bioreactors; materials for creating smart prostheses, manufacturing parts for cars, aviation, and unmanned aerial systems; a unique collection and products made of rare and rare earth metals, and other exhibits.

The Kurchatov Institute presented advanced developments in the creation of structural and functional materials, including aircraft parts manufactured using additive technologies, polymeric materials for medical use, heat-resistant materials for engine building, as well as special cold-resistant steels and coatings for Arctic conditions.

The Rosatom State Corporation’s stand presented a full-cycle technology that can produce beryllium-based materials for the manufacturing of spacecraft, a composite material with boron carbide to protect against neutron radiation, and a universal technological platform that can synthesize encapsulated radiopharmaceuticals.

The Moscow government’s exhibition area featured samples of the latest materials and products manufactured at Moscow enterprises, such as lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries, composite panels, carbon fibres, innovative building materials, and much more.

Sber demonstrated some of its existing developments in the use of AI in chemistry, materials science, and drug creation.

EVENTS ON THE FORUM SIDELINES

Several cooperation agreements were signed at the Forum, including between the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Institute of Oil and Gas Technological Initiatives, the Russian-Chinese Research Centre for Digital Economy, and the Russian Society of Inventors and Innovators. The Moscow government and the Roscongress Foundation signed a cooperation agreement on convention and exhibition activities in Russia and abroad, as well as the promotion of Moscow as an international business, industrial, investment, and export centre. The Mosprom Centre for Support of Export, Industry, and Investment Activities and the International Centre for Joint Initiatives agreed to organize and hold convention and exhibition events in Russia and other countries. In addition, an event was held on the Forum sidelines to announce the start of the acceptance of applications for the new season of the Vyzov National Prize in Future Technologies.

PARTNERS

In 2025, the Future Technologies Forum was held with the support of the Russian government, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Science Foundation, and the Russian Quantum Centre. The Forum co-organizers were Gazprombank, the Moscow government, and the Rosatom State Corporation. The general partner was Sber, the strategic partner was Rosseti, and the strategic scientific partner was the Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre.

The following 24 news organizations served as information partners of the Future Technologies Forum: Russia 24 TV channel, RIA Novosti, TASS News Agency, Interfax, Izvestia MIC, Gazprom-Media Holding, NTV TV channel, RT TV channel, Business FM radio station, Lenta.ru, Gazeta.ru, Vedomosti newspaper, RG Media, Argumenty i Fakty newspaper, 1MI holding, Regnum news agency, Expert magazine, FederalPress Russian news agency, Regional Russia journalistic magazine, TechInsider, the N+1 popular science publication on science and technology, Science and Life magazine, Indicator, and InScienceNews.

EXPERT AND ANALYTICAL SUPPORT

Expert and analytical support for the Forum was provided by experts who represent the country’s leading chemical engineering universities, including Bauman Moscow State Technical University, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University), Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, and the Kurchatov Institute.

For more about the events of the Future Technologies Forum, please visit the website: future-forum.tech