Posted 7 мая 2020,, 13:17

Published 7 мая 2020,, 13:17

Modified 24 декабря 2022,, 22:37

Updated 24 декабря 2022,, 22:37

Whatever you build here, the Gulag will appear: how does Skolkovo differ from the Silicon Valley

Whatever you build here, the Gulag will appear: how does Skolkovo differ from the Silicon Valley

7 мая 2020, 13:17
Unlike an absolutely transparent and accessible American technology cluster, the Russian one is surrounded by an impenetrable fence with checkpoints, armed guards and entry points.

Not so long ago, a new film by Yuri Duyd appeared on the Web about the Silicon Valley, which has become a symbol of a modern high-tech civilization. In his film, Duyd, of course, could not get away from the question, why did the attempts of the Russian authorities to create something similar in our country ended with a zilch? It is no secret that the widely publicized Skolkovo cluster is a visual parody of Silicon Valley: its efficiency is catastrophically small compared to the American one. Apparently, the whole thing is in the very spirit of freedom that pervades Western society with all its institutions, and the inescapable slave spirit of Russian reality. Even Skolkovo's purely outward appearance is strikingly different from his American original, which was noted by the public figure Pyotr Shkumatov, who watched Duyd's film:

“Dudya looked about Silicon Valley (yes, yes, I know about Silicon Valley and I know that I’m a sloppie). There was such a question at the end (litter for a spoiler), why from Skolkovo G is obtained and SD is not obtained. Well, there the people from the SD answered in their own words, such as investments and all that, but I would answer this question differently.

In the middle of the film, I drew attention to a very interesting nuance: fences are virtually forbidden in the Silicon Valley, you must ensure not only the free passage of pedestrians through your (!) Piece of land, but also ensure that you can travel on your own land in HORSES! On horseback, Carl!!!

The result is an open, friendly space where no one hides from anyone (even if he really wants to) and does not hide - this makes it possible for the fluid itself, which was mentioned many times in the film, to freely flow through the valley, enrich itself with new meanings and forms.

Now I will describe my impressions about Skolkovo. Before, when there wasn’t so much pathos, I could drive in there by car. Yes, it was already impossible for many, but somehow I was leaking. But, at some point in time, which coincided with a fierce struggle with motorists in Moscow, Skolkovo was surrounded by an impenetrable fence, roadblocks were set up with armed guards (I even met submachine gunners a couple of times) and a checkpoint, private cars stopped letting go of the word altogether. Now it has become mandatory to leave the car out of the way and transfer to the minibus that drove you to the desired pavilion.

The number of cameras on the territory of Skolkovo rolls over. The number of guards exceeds the number of local innovators. If you arrive there not on the day of some pathos exhibition, but on a regular one, then you will find an extremely depressing atmosphere, emptiness, a huge amount of security (which they protect, I don’t understand) and traveling Yandex.pilotless vehicles with all this splendor.

That is, even with Skolkovo’s absolute transport isolation from Moscow, private cars are strictly prohibited there, everything is prohibited, fences, security, video surveillance, only the towers with machine gunners lack barbed wire. All this is extremely depressing for my nerves, so now I try to never be there from the word at all. Despite the fact that Skolkovo is no longer more like an innovation center, but a cemetery, a cove and a remote, they will drive the missing element into the cover of this project with a modern “sharashka”.

So, just as a theater begins with a hanger, an innovation center begins with the absence of fences, respect for people and their civil rights and domestic needs, and only then everything else. But nothing worthwhile could come out of this so-called "innovation center", it cannot and will not work out. Well, maybe in the end they will build there a forest of panel humane people, which makes the land disappear in vain. That’s where the story of this misunderstanding or, as many times said in the film, “an unflown startup” ...

As network analyst Dmitry Milin wittily remarked in a comment under this post: “No matter what we build, for some reason the Gulag turns out all the time!”

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