IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU) today announced the opening of a Smarter Cities Development and Education Center in Russia – the first of its kind in the region.

Located on the university’s Moscow campus, the center will be home to a unique educational program giving students the chance to explore and apply IBM’s latest technologies and solutions to improve the management of urban infrastructure and support the development of smarter cities. Aligned with the Russian government’s priorities for the modernization and technological development of urban centers across the country, the center will support the development of IT skills crucial to Russia’s innovation agenda.

“The launch of the new Smarter Cities Development and Education Center at BMSTU is a significant milestone for IBM in the Russian market and shows the maturity of the Smarter Cities vision,” said Kirill Korniliev, Country General Manager of IBM in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. “Skills are crucial for the development of smarter cities and by establishing this new facility we will open up new opportunities for young professionals and spur innovation in the field.”

Students will be given the chance to explore how advanced technologies such as analytics software and mobile collaboration tools can help to integrate city systems such as water, traffic and public safety. A key component of the center will be IBM’s Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities, which is designed to help cities of all sizes integrate city systems and apply intelligence to their operations through one central point of command. Some of the center’s first development projects will look at how IBM’s IOC solution can be integrated with data from Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System, which already spans some 33 cities in Russia, to enable officials to better monitor and respond to city incidents.

“Creating this center gives rise to a new professional direction for our graduates,” says Anatoly Alexandrov, Rector of Bauman Moscow State Technical University. “This collaboration with IBM provides our graduates with skills that we believe will be in significant demand as Russia seeks to create Smarter Cities and increase its global economic competitiveness.”

In the past two years, IBM has opened Smarter Cities centers in Dublin, Ireland in collaboration with Ireland’s Industrial Development Agency and the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. The new center in Moscow is part of IBM’s ongoing global effort to help students and city leaders develop expertise and apply innovative technologies to create smart solutions to tackle issues that have high social and economic impact for cities around the world.