“Digital Special Forces” updated the special task – Economics – Kommersant
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The RANEPA Center for Training Leaders of Digital Transformation has updated the competency model for training “digital special forces” teams. This model is the basis on which the training of leaders and executors of digital projects is built. The model is updated annually, taking into account the technological agenda and digital development trends. This year, the changes in the model have become as large-scale as the phenomena occurring around the world. What professional and personal qualities does the digital economy of today and tomorrow require, in the column for “b” the director of the center argues Natalya Garkusha.
The transformation of industries in the process of transition to technological sovereignty is happening rapidly, technologies are changing, and hence the requirements for teams and their competencies. The Center for Training Leaders and Digital Transformation Teams (RCT Center) of the RANEPA has been training, assessing and developing digital teams since 2019. Over the past four years, almost 50,000 civil servants have been trained under the state order – “digital special forces” responsible for digital transformation and the development of industries and regions. These are civil servants of various levels, from federal officials to employees of regional and municipal administrations and their subordinate institutions. Among our graduates are more than 200 candidates or already appointed heads of digital transformation at the federal level, including 8 current heads of federal departments. More than half a million people (not only from the public sector) studied at the open courses of the RCT Center.
Four years ago, we chose a competency-based approach for our educational programs, when we provide only the knowledge and skills that are necessary for work.
And what kind of knowledge and skills are reflected in the competency model of the digital transformation team. These are the knowledge and skills – professional, personal, digital, that digital transformation leaders and specialists in their teams should have. This model was created on the basis of studies of Russian and international experience with the participation of the expert community and was adjusted in 2020–2022 taking into account feedback from the professional community: based on the recommendations of the audience, knowledge and skills that were in demand in practice were added and those that were no longer relevant were removed. The model was also complemented by the knowledge accumulated during the implementation of educational programs by the center.
The application of the competency model made it possible to systematize and identify some of the limitations that the constant transformation of the IT specialist market imposes on training – including the emergence of new functional roles and changes in current technical competencies and skills, the lack of a consensus in the IT industry about the necessary competencies of digital transformation teams (even descriptions similar vacancies sometimes differ significantly) and differences in the level of digital development of organizations: for some, the model is too simplified, for others it is too complicated.
In addition to training, the center has been assisting in the selection of digital transformation specialists for three years. We monitor key indicators of IT staffing, we have assessed the competencies of more than 7,000 specialists. The experience of conducting the assessment showed a very curious fact: almost 2/3 of those assessed demonstrate a weak level of development of professional and technical competencies, such as managing organizational changes and personnel policy, methods and tools of process and project approaches. That is, if there is a sufficient level of knowledge of IT technologies, most members of digital teams simply will not be able to apply their experience in specific projects aimed at improving the efficiency of the organization as a whole.
In addition, after analyzing 66,000 resumes and conducting 9,000 interviews with applicants, we see a change in the structure of specialists’ motivation.
If a year ago, ambitious projects and the possibility of professional self-realization were the key motivator for the majority, now it is salary and the availability of benefits.
In this situation, even with a shortage of specialists, it is important to competently approach the assessment of their competencies. Otherwise, there is a risk of getting an expensive IT specialist who will not bring the desired result.
As a result, the new version of the center’s competency model is oriented towards values that set the general direction of professional development and largely determine the motivation for it. Each professional competence, except for a serious audit and refinement of existing sub-competences and characteristics, is supplemented with completely new ones. For example, the “Management and use of data” competency is complemented by the skills of introducing data into all systems of the organization, experience of their real use. Technological trends and the digital industry agenda are analyzed and included in the model. We paid special attention to the deployment of the national IT infrastructure and technological sovereignty.
A separate block has appeared using solutions in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) – a breakthrough technology not only of the future, but also of the present. The National Development Strategy for AI-2030 appeared back in 2019, but its implementation has only recently begun actively. And maneuvers taking into account financial and technological limitations. Previously, the development of artificial intelligence and other “end-to-end” technologies was assumed through research and development. Now the approach has become more pragmatic: we need a specific product and its speedy implementation. In the course of assessing the AI maturity of government agencies – another area of our center’s work – we see how many solutions in this area are already being implemented in the public sector and go into business. At the same time, the implementation of AI solutions is not as difficult as it seems at first glance, if the team has this knowledge.
The second large-scale change is that “Technologies for Transforming Society” have been singled out as a separate competence. These are smart city technologies in a broad sense – movement tracking, moving wireless networks, device networks for the Internet of things, augmented reality content, VLC – a technology that allows a light source to transmit information in addition to lighting and using the same light signal. This is the digital management of the region through new electronic formats of interaction with residents, working with digital profiles of citizens and legal entities (data that are at the disposal of government agencies), which allow, for example, to provide public services and support measures proactively – without requests from people and companies.
However, changing the social structure is a complex process, in which a gap may arise between the standard of living of technological and non-technological cities, without equalization of which distortions in society and social problems are possible. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the ethical aspects of digitalization, the availability of digital services to all categories of people, including the elderly, people with disabilities, with low digital literacy, and simply from territories where the Internet is not yet sufficiently stable.
The third major change is that we have added the Advanced Technologies block to the competency model. These are sustainable development technologies, biotechnologies, new materials. Yes, Russia is rich in natural resources, but it is important to preserve them for future generations. The whole world is turning to ESG, operating and regulating its activities in an environmentally friendly manner, striving to switch to alternative energy sources and support green projects. It is important to be a visionary, to think ahead, to have strategic thinking, to see the forest for the trees. Bioinformatics and biopharmacology, medical technology and genetics are the sciences of the future. The TechBio industry needs high-performance technologies, operating systems and platform solutions, and this is not the task of biologists and geneticists, but of “digital” professionals.
The fourth point – the new time requires new (domestic!) IT solutions and national developments that need to be known and implemented. Technological sovereignty is a critical issue, and the deployment of a national IT infrastructure affects the needs of employers and the competency model of digital transformation teams.
This is a benchmark not only for the public sector, but for all industries. We are talking not only about the transition to the Gostech platform, which is talked about so much, but also about other domestic solutions. Given the threats in the field of information security and cybersecurity, it is also GosSOPKA (State System for Detecting, Preventing and Eliminating the Consequences of Computer Attacks). It is created, again, not only for government agencies. GosSOPKA is about the exchange of information about cyber attacks on information systems, the violation or termination of which will have an extremely negative impact on the country’s economy or people’s security. Also, these are certified domestic operating systems, cryptographic information protection tools, anti-virus solutions, authority management products. It is also a transition to Linux-based operating systems and solutions, which many authorities already operate on, and everyone else should take into account.
And fifth, we added knowledge of anti-crisis management to the competency model. After all, digital teams are now not only implementing innovative projects, changing processes and ways of organizing activities, but also doing it in a changing environment in which all logistics and cooperation chains are being rebuilt. Reminds me of a car being repaired while it is in motion. Many suppliers of Western IT solutions have left, some are preparing to leave – and now all their former clients are very quickly looking for a replacement, developing their own solutions.
Case study: our partners, a large Russian IT company, are currently reformatting the internal procurement system. Previously, it was serviced by SAP, now, in an extremely short time, colleagues are implementing and finalizing a boxed solution from one of the regional Russian developers. In July, IT support for purchases by developers leaving Russia ends, and the new system is unlikely to be launched by this date. And now urgent measures are being taken so that purchases do not stop. This is what anti-crisis management is, without which it is almost impossible to implement digital projects and switch to domestic IT solutions.
The experience of improving the model helped to draw an important conclusion: when forming and updating the model, it is not worth relying only on expert opinions, it is much more important to rely on objective research and connection with the real market.
The competency model is not good in itself, but the products created on its basis. How does it work in practice? It is not necessary to train all managers and specialists of digital transformation with everything that is in the model.
Everyone needs to pass an assessment of competencies – and pull up only those that are required in their area of work, in their place in the “digital” team, in their professional role. This is how an individual educational trajectory and a personal development plan for each professional is formed. Sooner or later, the whole system of professional retraining and professional development will come to such an approach.
Is retraining of already trained digital transformation leaders and their teams required? The answer to this question is again given by the assessment of their professional and personal qualities based on the competency model. In the public sector, digital teams are regularly assessed, and rotations often occur as a result. Outsider teams need to be retrained, each on its own educational track. Leader teams that successfully implement changes, on the contrary, set trends in technological development. They replicate their experience in other regions and industries, give feedback and thus determine the future updating of the competency model and all products based on it.
The feedback itself is arranged as follows: when passing tests during the assessment of competencies, the respondent gives his comments on the correctness and relevance of the questions asked. In addition to the practice of leaders and the recommendations of those who are assessed, it is possible to maintain relevance through predictive analytics, analysis of the most important trends, labor market trends, relevant tools and practices.
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