The meeting was held today.

The Institute of Oriental Studies agreed to share experience of the already existing situation center which provides analysis and reviews for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Security Council of Russia.

Center Head Nikolay Plotnikov said, “We have prepared a model of a situation center. Judging by the posed objectives, we propose creating a multipurpose center. First of all, it must be a structural unit of the University and be engaged in global information monitoring and forecast.”

Among the tentative tasks for the Center Dr. Plotnikov mentioned data mining, analysis and evaluation, production of periodical information papers, brainstorming with colleagues from other departments and organizations, and educational work.

Rector Ilshat Gafurov voiced his wishes for the entity, “We’d like to work in mutual compatibility. The Scientific and Analytical Information Center of the Institute of Oriental Studies is active in this area. We can take care of the research part of the work. Everything that covers oil and gas industry and joint projects with China is also in our field of view. For example, that could pertain to the analysis of new gas pipelines or production facilities. First, we’d like to work in niches which have not yet been covered by you. Second, we as an educational and research establishment have our own issues, such as finding new targets in the educational market. We can have more staff for those specific purposes. However, there is currently no unified center which could link all the sources from different University departments.”

The Center is planned to comprise three offices. The main one will be the situation room which follows information in manual and automatic regimes. To that end, the Center may use the KFU Supercomputer’s capacity. Separate facilities are also planned. Some employees may change their workplace for the Center, but only those who are in charge of analytics and information.

The Center's main product is information in its different forms, such as briefings, analytical papers, films, etc. Recruitment is already underway.