In St. Petersburg, for the eighteenth time, the one of the major world events in the business sphere, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was held. For three days, experts of the ITMO University have been participating in discussions on the development of education, IT- industry and economic development of the country as a whole.

Speaking at the panel session "Winning strategies in the global fight for talent", Vladimir Vasiliev, the rector of the ITMO University, shared his point of view on the issue of support of talented youth. He stressed that young professionals today are interested not only in career, but also self-development.

Neither of the events of the forum, related to higher education, has passed without mentioning of the ITMO University. Russian and foreign participants unanimously noted the high level of organization of the university and recognized its leading position in the Russian education.

The session "Cities for people in the XXI century: needs, scenarios , challenges" aroused great public interest. The participants from the ITMO University were Vladimir Vasiliev and Markus Appenzeller, the architect and urban planner, the partner of the Dutch company MLA, the curator of the master program "Design of urban ecosystems". The discussion showed that the ITMO University plays a significant role in the development of urbanism in Russia, as well as in the transformation of urban spaces of St. Petersburg.

SPIEF is a platform for discussion key issues of partnership and finding new forms of interaction. On the final day of the Forum the meeting of the management of the ITMO University and RVC company was held. Under the agreement, signed October 31, 2013, the partners discussed the program of cooperation for 2014-2015.