Moscow – Autumn 2014

l. to r. Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, & Russia’s top presidential economic advisor, and also, the President of the Russian Chess Federation, Mr Arkady Dvorkovich, and Mobilium Global Chairman, Ralph Simon – after the successful plenary session we spoke at and moderated at the keynote sessions of the 2014 Open Innovations Forum conference & exhibition in Moscow this week. Arkady, a former Deputy Minister of Economic Development & Innovation, went to Duke University in the USA in his earlier years, and comes from a highly distinguished family of chess grandmasters in Moscow. Another speaker we highlighted in the plenary, was the truly inspirational Dr Bertrand Piccard – the first man in history to fly an airplane around the world without using any aviation fuel whatsoever – all solar-powered wings and air dynamic “skin”. Guo Ping, deputy chairman of Hua Wei, the Chinese giant mobile tech and innovation company, was also a featured speaker in the plenary. Innovation in and from pan-Asia was a major focus of this year’s Forum

 Dr Bertrand Piccard – Founder & CEO of Solar Impulse, Lausanne, Switzerland

Moscow – l. to r. Mobilium Global Ralph Simon meeting the inspirational adventurer, scientist and amazing aero-engineer Dr. Bertrand Piccard – the first man in history to fly around the world in a solar airplane without using aviation or any fuel ! What a natural motivator and leader he is – he said he was influenced to do his epic flying as a boy, by being obsessed with the space achievements of Yuri Gagarin. He and his Solar Impulse team in Lausanne, Switzerland have revolutionised solar aircraft building and engineering.