INNOPOLIS UNIVERSITY – A NEW IT RESOURCE FOR RUSSIA Dmitry Kondratyev CEO, Innopolis University Kazan, Russia Alexander Tormasov Rector, Innopolis University Kazan, Russia Tanya Stanko Director of Education, Innopolis University Kazan, Russia Russel C. Jones President, World Expertise LLC Falls Church, VA, USA Gill Taran CEO, iCarnegie Global Learning Pittsburgh, PA, USA Abstract In order to improve the current state of Information Technology education and the IT industry in Russia, the Republic of Tatarstan, with support from the Russian Federation, is developing a new university in Kazan dedicated to this area. Innopolis University will be located in a new technology city, Innopolis, and will provide top quality graduates, research results, and continuing education to the IT companies both in that city and beyond throughout Russia. Academic programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels are being developed in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. Introduction In December 2010 the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, and the Minister of Information Technologies and Communication of the Russian Federation, Nikolay Nikiforov, announced a strategic plan for the creation of Innopolis Kazan. This new city in the geographical center of the Russian Federation is intended to increase the role of Information Technology in the Russian GDP. The new city will attract the best IT people to live there and to create new IT products and services. The master plan for the city is being developed by RSP Architects Planners & Engineers of Singapore. Innopolis Kazan will provide an attractive place for living and working in comfort for a planned 2021 population of 155,000 people, of whom 60,000 will be IT people. Construction was started on June 9 th , 2012, with the symbolic foundation stone ceremony of the main techno-park building being laid by Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. A key part of the development is the startup of Innopolis University, an innovative institution focused on Information Technology education and research. Innopolis University is being developed in partnership with Carnegie-Mellon University and its subsidiary, iCarnegie Global Learning, in the United States of America. The first stage of construction of the US$ 150-million campus has begun – to accommodate 2000 students in a 70,000 square meter facility (including dorms and sport facilities). Innopolis University will initially have four undergraduate programs: Database Engineering, Graphics and Game Development, Information Security Systems, and Computer Science. These four programs are being developed with the assistance of Carnegie-