This is great. Siberia as the next Slilicon Valley is interesting to think about. There are many elements of what it might actually take (according to Guy Kawasaki, anyway), as well as other paradoxical dynamics at work (low rent, under population, etc.). Russia is already the third largest software outsourcing destination on the planet and they have a reputation for doing great work:
Inside Intel we have an expression,” says Steve Chase, president of Intel Russia. “If you have something tough, give it to the Americans. If you have something difficult, give it to the Indians. If you have something impossible, give it to the Russians.”
With a concentration of really smart people (Akademgorodok as they call it), isolation, and public and private investment anything is possible. After reading Jim Roger’s The Investment Biker (copyright 1994), where he and his companion road motorcycles across every continent (excluding Middle Eastern countries) to survey first hand the next growth opportunities of the world, it sounds like Siberia even has beautiful summers and good looking people (well, women). With a population density of 3 people per square kilometer, they certainly have enough land for an Aerotropolis. Hmm, who knows?
via TrendHunter and CNN Money.com