The government wants to achieve technological independence in the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry

The White House is updating the strategy for the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry – the focus in the draft of a new version of the document prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade is on achieving the technological independence of the Russian Federation. The changes are explained by the increased risks of technological backwardness due to sanctions and the lack of budget funding for the innovative development of the industry. The new strategy also corrects the model of state support for industry: the use of “digital passports” of enterprises will increase the efficiency of aid distribution in the face of its general reduction, and will also provide the state with data on the actual state of industries. The money for the strategy projects, however, is still small – no more than 10 billion rubles, while two of the five projects do not require separate financing at all.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has prepared a draft updated “Strategy for the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry until 2030”. The previous iteration of the document was approved by the government in 2021 and assumed the transition to automated flexible production through the implementation of four projects: Smart Manufacturing, Digital Engineering, Future Products and New Employment Model (see Kommersant dated November 9 2021). In the new version, it was decided to abandon the last project in favor of two new ones – “Technological independence” and “Intellectual state support”. This step in the project is explained by “changes in the geopolitical situation and external economic conditions”, as well as the narrowed possibilities of the federal budget. The Ministry of Industry and Trade explained the changes to Kommersant with new trends in digitalization, a course towards achieving technological sovereignty and introducing artificial intelligence technologies.

Problems from the current strategy migrated to the new document – low labor productivity, a high proportion of defects in the production of technological goods, a long way from an idea to the market. Among the new threats are the increased level of cybercrime and technological dependence on foreign solutions. The “Smart Manufacturing” project will remain the central project, which will become an indicator of the digital maturity of enterprises. In 2024-2026, they want to spend 8.5 billion rubles on this project. (42% – from the federal budget, 58% – from extrabudgetary sources). This money will be used to equip enterprises with Russian software. They also promised to take measures to increase labor productivity – this, however, is already being done by the Ministry of Economy within the framework of a specialized national project. The remaining activities of the project are bureaucratic in nature (updating the methods for assessing the level of digital maturity and analyzing its level).

According to the draft strategy, another 770 million rubles. from the federal budget will go to building a system of intellectual state support – here the Ministry of Industry and Trade is counting on the growth in popularity among enterprises of “digital passports” (in addition to general information, it contains data on the company’s readiness to introduce digital technologies) and the creation of a “smart support” system based on the information system “Industry ”- all this should make it easier for businesses to access state support. The state, in turn, will receive detailed industrial data in real time for proactive public administration.

Recall that the growing demand of the industry for state support to create import-substituting capacities in the context of a reduced budget raised the question of increasing the effectiveness of state support for the government – up to digital accounting of money through the Ministry of Finance and building a vertical structure of assistance in the regions instead of a set of disparate mechanisms.

The third project from the strategy – “Technological independence” – involves much more modest funding than the first two, 319 million rubles. Recall that in May of this year, the White House approved the concept of technological development of the Russian Federation until 2030, focusing numerous support measures on priority technologies and products with a total funding of 3 trillion rubles. So the new strategy does not imply large-scale measures for technological independence – it is about ensuring the security of critical information infrastructure facilities through requirements for companies to use domestic solutions.

It is noteworthy that two projects that can be called the most innovative remained without funding. “Products of the Future” involves the creation of a flexible conveyor production of goods to individual consumer requirements, and “Digital Engineering” – the emergence of a national system of standardization and digital certification with virtual testing. The Ministry of Industry and Trade explains that although “there is no separate funding for these activities in the national program, they will be implemented as part of the current functions of the ministry and Rosstandart.”

Speaking about the measures from the current strategy for the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises, the department reminds that by 2023, on the basis of the state information system of industry (GISP), a service has been launched to generate a digital passport of an enterprise. 96 projects for the creation and implementation of domestic industrial software for the development of end-to-end digital technologies received support, a special platform (efficiency.rf) was created to promote Russian industrial software. In the context of a shortage of personnel, an information system for industry was launched with the functionality of an expert exchange. “This service is aimed at transforming the employment market for generalists to solve specific engineering tasks of design and technological preparation of production for enterprises,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade explained.

Diana Galieva