Strong Ideas on a National Scale

Even the most promising development won't reach the mass market on its own. Its team needs demand, manufacturing partners, investment, first customers, and clear mechanisms for implementation. That is why platforms that bring together technology developers, business, the government, investors, and regions play such an important role.

The "Strong Ideas for a New Time" forum plays exactly this role. Every year, people across Russia submit thousands of initiatives to the forum. Some of them belong to the technology track: new manufacturing technologies, robotics, medicine, artificial intelligence, digital services, and new materials. Many teams present their developments to regions, major companies, development institutions, and potential investors.

"We have genuinely managed to create a permanent, nationwide platform where every resident of our country — an entrepreneur, a scientist, an engineer, a young person, a teacher, a doctor — can share their idea, their project. Most importantly, together with the regions, development institutions, the Government of the Russian Federation, and the Presidential Executive Office, we are building a permanent mechanism that turns leadership projects into genuinely strategic, significant initiatives, including government programs and projects," said Svetlana Chupsheva, Director General of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI).

After the ASI forum, regions, major companies, and development institutions help project teams continue their work. Authors use the agency's services and regional support mechanisms, find partners, and prepare their solutions for scaling. In this way, the forum builds up a base of promising developments and helps spot future markets at an early stage. Many of the ideas presented at the forum have already gone into mass production, attracted investment, and found customers in Russia and abroad.

Every year, forum participants propose solutions for the social sphere, workforce training, entrepreneurship, ecology, the climate agenda, and regional development. Some initiatives have already become the basis for major government programs.

For example, Anastasia Dymura, a farmer from Zaporizhzhia Region, proposed creating a multi-level network of protective forest belts in Russia. Such a network is meant to protect farmland from wind erosion, drought, and desertification. She presented the initiative at "Strong Ideas for a New Time," and following the forum, in July 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin included the proposal in a list of instructions.

Based on the initiative, ASI and the Russian government developed a comprehensive action plan for land protection and the development of soil-conserving farming. It provides for the creation of protective forest belts at the federal, regional, and local levels, as well as the development of a land-reclamation system.

Regions have already begun implementing their first projects. Rostov Region has completed agro-ecological zoning of its farmland based on natural and climatic conditions. Stavropol and Krasnodar territories have carried out an inventory of forest belts and prepared plans for restoring them. Kalmykia is stabilizing sand dunes and creating protective green zones around towns and transport infrastructure.

The program protects farmland, reduces environmental risks, and creates new employment opportunities in rural areas. At the same time, it supports the development of agritourism and related sectors of the economy.

Another initiative that grew into a full-scale program was proposed by Sergei Ryzhov. He presented industrial tourism as a new tool for the social and economic development of regions: operating enterprises open their sites to tourists, schoolchildren, and students, introducing them to manufacturing and engineering careers.

Forum experts placed the idea among the top projects. Based on it, ASI, with the support of Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade, launched the "Open Industry" program. It helps regions develop a strategy for industrial tourism and helps enterprises create safe, engaging tours of operating production sites. The Ministry of Industry and Trade approved the program's methodology, after which regions began rolling it out at their enterprises.

Over the course of the project, more than 2 million people have visited enterprises as part of tour and career-guidance programs. More than 2,000 enterprises have opened their sites to schoolchildren, students, and tourists, and more than 1,500 specialists have completed training under the "Organizing Industrial Tourism" program.

The program's team has also launched digital services — an online guide and a mobile app on VKontakte — and developed new cultural formats. These include "Theater at the Factory," "Technopredki" ("Tech Ancestors"), festivals, and business missions.

In 2026, the "Strong Ideas for a New Time" forum is being held for the sixth time. Over its history, more than 660,000 participants have registered on the crowd platform Idea.roscongress.rf. They have submitted more than 170,000 ideas from every region of Russia and 45 countries around the world.

This year, the forum was organized by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the Roscongress Foundation. VEB.RF and the government of Nizhny Novgorod Region served as co-organizers, and Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation, chaired the organizing committee.

Interest in the forum grows every year. In 2020, participants submitted 14,700 ideas; by 2026, that figure had already exceeded 48,000. ASI, the forum's partners, and the regions have helped thousands of projects continue to develop and move toward practical implementation.

Selection begins with applications submitted on the Idea.roscongress.rf crowd platform. Experts then evaluate the proposals and compile shortlists. The authors of the best projects present their solutions at the forum, with the country's leadership in attendance.