Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshenko reacted philosophically to the departure of IT specialists from Russia

Specialists were promised new benefits, and the rest – increased access to online services

The authorities will not cancel electronic passports (FAN ID) of fans, as required by football club fans. On the contrary, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev promised to continue the digitalization of the main documents. “The task is to use a smartphone to confirm identity and rights to perform certain actions. The year 2023 will be devoted to this,” the minister said at a briefing on the results and plans for the digital development of the Russian Federation. However, they promise to simplify obtaining a FAN ID: fans will not need to visit the MFC when applying for it.

The government has tested a new format of reporting events. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and the head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev held a briefing on digital topics with the participation of representatives of IT companies, experts and journalists. The event was broadcast online, but without the ability to leave comments. Both officials said that the past year, despite the restrictions, was successful for the industry. All the tasks set – primarily to ensure technological sovereignty and leaving, as Chernyshenko put it, from “colonial dependence” – were overfulfilled. Investments in domestic IT solutions increased by 165% and amounted to 522 billion rubles. The number of accredited companies after the preferences announced by the government increased 5 times – from 4 thousand to 20 thousand.

As for the mass exodus of IT specialists from the country after February 24, the government treats this philosophically. “Some part has left, but they continue to work for our country. But there is also a tendency to return, ”Chernyshenko said. According to the Ministry of Digital Development, a total of 100 thousand IT specialists left the country and did not return (80% of them continue to work for Russia, restrictions have been introduced only for those specialists who were involved in projects to create and develop state information systems). Those who left for the industry were replaced by the same 100,000 people. But this did not solve the problem of personnel shortage: professionals left, and yesterday’s graduates and retrained ones came, who are not up to difficult tasks yet. However, the authorities do not lose hope that the “prodigal sons and daughters”, having wandered around the world and compared the level of income in Russian and European IT companies, will return to their homeland. “The digital sphere is the leader in the growth of vacancies and salaries,” Chernyshenko emphasized. The Ministry of Digital Transformation, in turn, is trying to get new benefits for IT specialists: as it was reported, those who returned to the Russian Federation can be given a reservation from being drafted into the army and reimburse part of the costs of return relocation.

Ordinary citizens of the authorities, in turn, are promised to increase access to online services. The number of registered users on the portal “Gosuslugi” broke the mark of 100 million, having increased by 40% over three years. But officials are aware that the most successful development so far is the registration of all kinds of benefits and benefits, and, for example, making an appointment with a doctor in many regions is still problematic. Another trend in 2023 is digital copies of documents. “Labor, sick leave, driver’s license, not to mention certificates and extracts,” Shadayev listed. “Our task is to be able to show a smartphone when buying alcohol and entering the business center.” He said that the Digital Rights app had already been downloaded by 2 million people. According to the minister, there is a decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the inspector can limit himself to checking only a digital copy of a driver’s license. But it operates in a pilot mode: it is not yet clear when it will be possible not to carry the license with you at all. “This is a matter of adapting the system and understanding that there are no additional risks,” Shadayev said.

As for the scandalous FAN ID project, the government apparently considers it a success. An electronic fan card was issued by 350,000 people and 280,000 attended matches. “That’s not bad,” Shadayev commented. In 2023, the Ministry of Digital Development plans to exclude the MFC from the design, where fans had to go to verify their identity. This will make the service completely electronic. Recall that the fan community announced a boycott of FAN ID, promising not to attend matches of the Russian Premier League until the fan ID is cancelled. In 2022, attendance fell by half because of this: officials, obviously, expect to influence the situation by simplifying the procedure.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28954 dated January 20, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Plus digitalization of the whole country