The IV Tekhnoprom International Technological Development Forum, to be held in Novosibirsk in 2016, will focus on the development of Arctic territories, TASS quoted Novosibirsk Governor Vladimir Gorodetsky as saying.

"The organizing committee chairman, Dmitry Rogozin, announced the theme for the next Tekhprom. It has a somewhat different, applied focus — considering the use of new technologies for the development of the Arctic," he said.

The Novosibirsk Region has no land within the Arctic zone, but the Novosibirsk section of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Siberian Branch has been studying the Arctic for several years. In 2013, RAS opened its new research station on Samoilovsky Island in the Lena delta to study the evolution of the natural environment, the lithosphere, climatic changes and ecological problems in the Arctic's eastern sector.

According to the governor, technologies developed by Novosibirsk scientists should be used in the Arctic. "We are beginning to think about preparations [for the next forum]," he said.

The III Tekhnoprom International Technological Development Forum was held in Novosibirsk on June 5-6, 2015. There were over 30 events, including a meeting of the council on the efficient operation and development of the defense industry in Siberia.