The TAdviser portal published the text of the IT industry uganda phone number library development project for 2019–2025, which the Ministry of Communications sent to departments, industry associations, and companies on December 29. The ministry and two associations confirmed the authenticity of the document to Kommersant. The final version of the project should appear in the second quarter, after which the ministry will develop a plan of key activities.
The new strategy pays more attention to import substitution of software products for the defense industry, government agencies and strategically important enterprises. By 2021, state-owned companies will have to switch to domestic software. The strategy considers a "special scenario" for the development of information technology in Russia, in which the international situation forces us to limit access to foreign products.
This scenario is associated with large time and financial costs associated with the development, testing and implementation of software, the Ministry of Communications admits. But if the strategy is successfully implemented, it will be possible to reduce import dependence from 70-90% to 50-60% in various industries by 2020.
The project talks about the risk of domestic companies being taken over by international ones. Russian small and medium IT companies view them as the main strategic investor. Instead, large domestic companies with state support should become strategic investors.
Small businesses are going to be encouraged by preferential lending and subsidies for the purchase of domestic software. Moreover, many IT companies do not have property collateral, which is why they cannot develop using borrowed funds. The solution may be for the Central Bank to establish methods for assessing the value of intangible assets and the practice of lending to IT companies without tangible collateral, the Ministry of Communications believes.
Cybersecurity expert Kirill Kertsenbaum believes that the import substitution plans are extremely ambitious. “Russia, no matter how hard it tries, will never be able to provide itself with the full range of information and communication technologies. The principle of international division of labor operates in IT, and even China is not succeeding in this, despite its strict protectionist policy and much more effective support system. The more isolationist the strategy is implemented in Russia, the less likely it is that new competitive technologies will emerge,” he says. It is also unclear why the Ministry of Communications views foreign investment as a risk, rather than as an opportunity for advanced Russian technologies to enter the Western market, says Mr. Kertsenbaum, noting that the most successful companies abroad are those that initially hid their Russian roots — Veeam, Parallels, Luxoft, etc.
