Russian industrial software is looking for foreign markets

As it became known to Kommersant, ANO Tsifrovaya ekonomika, on behalf of the Ministry of Digital Development, is developing strategies for exporting Russian system-wide and industrial software to the BRICS and EAEU countries. They will be implemented by a new structure that will evaluate Russian products and foreign markets, help form partnerships and provide consulting support. Market participants note that a dozen organizations are already dealing with the problems of exporting domestic software, but their actions are still poorly coordinated.

According to a Kommersant source in the IT market, on June 26, the ANO Tsifrovaya ekonomika (ANO CE) held a meeting of the working group in the direction of Digital Technologies, which discussed the preparation of strategies for promoting Russian system-wide and industrial software in the BRICS and EAEU markets . They are being developed within the framework of the “road maps” developed last year “New system-wide software” (NOPO) and “New industrial software” (NIPO), clarified “Kommersant” in the Ministry of Digital Development.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the draft strategies that are relevant for June 21. Judging by them, the authors intend to increase the share of Russian software on the world market by expanding exports to friendly countries, partnering with international companies and organizations, and so on. To implement these ideas, a new organization will be created on the basis of ANO – the Center for Technology Leadership Techlead.rf. Its employees will collect data on priority markets and evaluate product prospects, form a list of companies whose work is export-oriented, create a network of partners, and train local clients in the use of Russian software.

Among the categories of software that are promising for export, the authors list OS, social networks and instant messengers, DBMS, game services, products based on intelligent generation technologies and recognition of segmented content (deepfakes), computer-aided design systems, Internet of Things (IoT) device control platforms, business management systems. -processes (BPM), etc.

ANO CE plans to complete the development of documents in August, the organizations explained to Kommersant. They added that Techlead.rf will provide “advisory support to exporting companies.” Meanwhile, the ANO admits that “there is no funding for the strategies yet.” A Kommersant source close to the Ministry of Digital Development says that it is not worth waiting for funds from the budget to support strategies: “Now the situation is such that money is allocated only for the implementation of particularly significant projects (they are approved by the government commission on digital development.— “b”). The remaining activities of the “road maps” of NIPO and NOPO, if they are financed, then according to the residual principle.

In ARPP “Domestic Soft” they say that they support the development of strategies. “There has never been such an experience in our country, the need for the emergence of such a structure is long overdue,” says Oleg Kravchuk, head of the export committee. According to him, such strategies have been developed in the United States, India, China and other countries. Russia, the expert adds, “needs a clear road map with the results we want to achieve.”

However, a number of market participants are skeptical about the idea. “About ten departments and organizations are already involved in the development of software exports, including the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, RFRIT, etc. The problem is that there is no centralized management of processes in these structures, so the current support measures are ineffective, and the development of a new strategy and the launch of a new expert center will not solve this problem, ”says the interlocutor of Kommersant in the video conferencing market.

He considers the creation of an international network of partners as the only useful initiative within the framework of the strategies, since “there are many barriers that need to be addressed at a high level.”

Now the problem is not in the number of support measures and organizations providing them, but in quality, says Olga Minaeva, GR director of SearchInform: “Instead of creating an additional structure, it is worth launching the existing measures in full force.”

According to Minaeva, it is necessary to compensate IT companies for participation in exhibition events by analogy with goods manufacturers, launch the work of digital attachés, including for the presence of Russian authorities in a number of cases, and expand the RFRIT cost compensation program to international markets. This, the expert emphasizes, would be “simple and understandable actions that companies have been waiting for a long time.”

Nikita Korolev