Programme

Today, digitalization in business, government, and society allows countries to expand their presence and compete in the global market, thereby improving the quality and standard of living of their people. The Russian Association for Electronic Communications estimates that the digital economy makes up 2.42% of Russia’s 2017 GDP. The influence of Internet markets on the economy is growing by 11% annually, and there is a successful track record of digital transformation in a number of areas. Digitalization is no longer an abstract concept but a reality, and the Russian IT industry plays a major role. This business breakfast will discuss international experience, best practices in Russia, and the role of state support for digital transformation in areas that are closely integrated with modern society. What is the role of the IT industry in the digital transformation of the Russian and global economies? What are the barriers to the digital transformation of the Russian economy and what can be done to overcome them? What are some examples of successful practices and what are the prospects for international cooperation?

Moderators
Valentin Makarov, President, Russoft Association
Sergei Plugotarenko, Director, Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC)

Valentin Makarov

President, Russoft Association

Makarov Valentin was born 16.04.1955 in Leningrad, Russia. Graduated from the Leningrad Aircraft Instrumentation Institute in 1978, in 1978-1985 he had been working in the Defense Industry. In 1985 entered the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. Since “perestroika” time he has got good experience of organizing international cooperation (1988-1992 – secretary in the Russian Delegation to UNESCO, in 1996-2000 as deputy Chairman of International relations’ Committee of Administration of St Petersburg). He has also got extended managerial experience in private business (1992-1996 – in Interprivatization Foundation and in the EuroConseil Rusian-French JV consulting company).
President of RUSSOFT Association (earlier Fort Ross) since its foundation on 9.9.99, he has been organizer of lobbying campaigns in the Government and Chairman of numerous IT-events in Russia and abroad (RUSSOFT Forum, Software Outsourcing Summit, Mobile Software Forum, Russian IT-seasons). Chief-editor of the annual Russian export software industry survey since its beginning in 2003. Representative of Russian IT Association (APKIT) in WITSA in 2004-2006, 2012. Invited speaker at numerous international conferences and author of dozens of articles on IT in Russia.

Sergei Plugotarenko

Director, Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC)

Mr. Plugotarenko graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Department of Physical and Quantum Electronics (1993–1996) and Department of Control and Applied Mathematics (1996–1999), certified as Physical Engineer specializing in Applied Mathematics and Physics.From 2002, he was leading ICT specialist at the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE UNESCO – http://ru.iite.unesco.org).In 2004–2006, he was executive director and, from 2007, director of the Runet Awards competition. Since 2005, he has served as coordinator of programme committees for some high-profile sectoral conference events, including the Russian Internet Forum (RIF), Russian Interactive Week (RIW) and others.In 2005–2007, he served as deputy executive director of the Regional Non-government Centre for Internet Technologies (ROCIT – www.rocit.ru) – the oldest NGO engaged in expert evaluation, promotion and development of the ICT segment in the Russian Federation, upholding the interests of Internet users. In 2007, he was elected executive director of ROCIT.From 2005 he was ideologue and founder of the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (NP RAEC – www.raec.ru), promoting the interests of Russian Internet players. From 2006, he was deputy general manager of NP RAEC.In 2011–2013, Mr. Plugotarenko was member of the Council of Coordination Centre for National Top Level Domains RU/RF – www.cttld.ru. Since 2010, he has been director of The Russian Association for Electronic Communications (NP RAEC).

Panellists
Doron Avni, Director, Policy and Government Relations, Middle East, Africa, Israel and Turkey, Google Inc.
Marina Amelina, Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Yandex
Svetlana Balanova, General Director, IBS
Nicolas Brusson, Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder, BlaBlaCar
Pavel Vasiliev, Founder, AstroSoft
Andrey Vorobiev, Director, Coordination Center for Top Level Domain RU
Pavel Gudkov, Deputy General Director, Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises
Dmitry Dyrmovsky, General Director, Member of the Board of Directors, Speech Technology Center
Aleksandr Egorov, General Direcor, Reksoft
Andrey Ershov, General Director, Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS)
Pavel Ershov, Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft Rus LLC
Alexandre Zapolsky, Co-founder, Chief Executive Director, LINAGORA
Uliana Zinina, Head of Public Policy, Russia and CIS, Facebook
Alexey Katkov, Managing Partner, Sistema
Foued Kefif, Head, Technology and Services Division, Trade and Investment office of the Embassy of France (Business France Russia)
David Conrad, Senior Vice-President, Chief Technology Officer, Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
Kirill Menshov, Vice President for Information Technology, Rostelekom
Sergey Petrov, Director, Institute for Internet Development
Alexander Povalko, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Management Board, RVC
Shannon Poulin, Vice President, Director for Implementing New Technologies in Global Markets, Intel Corporation
Carlo Rossotto, Leading Specialist for Information and Communications Technologies, Regional Coordinator, The World Bank Group
Vladimir Rubanov, Managing Director, Rosplatforma
Anastasios Tzikas, President of the Board of Directors, Thessaloniki International Fair Helexpo SA
Andrey Tikhonov, Head of Safety of the Internet of Things (IoT), Kaspersky Lab
Kirill Filippov, General Director, SPB TV
Dmitry Shushkin, Chief Executive Officer, ABBYY Russia
Sergey Emdin, Chief Executive Officer, Tele2
Michael Yakushev, Executive Vice President for Government Relations, VimpelCom

Svetlana Balanova

General Director, IBS

Svetlana Balanova has headed IBS since 2012. She worked for 3M before – since 1993 – in different positions, in particular as a president of the international business ‘Electronic Monitoring’ and headed 3M branches in Ukraine and Russia for some years. She became the first Russian national – the General Director of 3M Russia.
She has been included in the list of the best top managers in the IT industry in the framework of the ‘Top 1000 Leading Managers of Russia’ annual rating of the Russian Managers Association (AMR) and Kommersant Publishing House in 2014–2017.
In 2009, she was entered in the list of 500 Managers, included in the executive candidate pool being under the patronage of the Russian President. In 2013 she became the winner in the ‘Master of Business’ nomination at the ‘Businesswomen 2013’ contest held in Russia for the first time ever within the EY’s (Ernst & Young) international initiative to support and assist consolidation of the women’s stand in business.
She has taken a degree of MBA at the Open University Business School in the UK. She graduated with honours from the Moscow State Linguistic University.

Nicolas Brusson

Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder, BlaBlaCar

Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer in October 2016, Nicolas oversaw BlaBlaCar’s global operations and international growth. As Chief Operating Officer, he led the company’s corporate development, overseeing eight acquisitions, expansion to twenty markets, and three successive rounds of fundraising. Nicolas is a strong proponent of agile structures that allow quick iterations in fast-growing environments. He is also a supporter of autonomous local teams and acqui-hires, a strategy he implemented to expand BlaBlaCar’s footprint on a global scale. Nicolas is a regular speaker at leading international conferences and in the media, where he comments on the European startup scene, innovative growth strategies, and mobility.
Prior to joining BlaBlaCar in 2011, Nicolas worked for several startups in Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom, before moving on to executive and investor roles, including spending time as a Venture Capitalist at Amadeus Capital Partners in London. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters in Optics from Ecole Supérieure d’Optique and a Masters in Applied Physics from Paris XI University. Nicolas is also an active angel investor and tweets@nbrusson.

Andrey Vorobiev

Director, Coordination Center for Top Level Domain RU

In 1999, Andrei Vorobyov graduated with honors from Moscow State University of Railway Engineering (MIIT) as an engineer-technologist of transport machine building.
In 2006, he received a second degree from Russian State Institute of Intellectual Property, the faculty of law (“Legal protection of intellectual property”).
In 2008-2009, he received additional professional education in economy at International Academy of Appraisal and Consulting. He studied on the faculty of Business Appraisal and specialized in Appraisal of Intellectual Property.
In 1998, Andrei Vorobyov started working on television in Troitsk. He had a great career progress from a correspondent to Chief Information Officer. From 1999 to 2000 he was the press secretary of the Mayor of Troitsk.
He started working in domain industry in 2001 at the Russian Institute for Public Networks (RIPN). After a unit of RIPN that dealt with domain registration was unbundled, Andrei Vorobyov became the director of public and government relations of RU-CENTER domain registrar.
In 2015, Andrei Vorobyov has become the Director of Public Relations at Internet Development Institute. In October 2015, he has become the Director of the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ.
Over the years, he has become a well-known expert in Internet projects PR and legal support. He has several scientific publications devoted to the protection of rights of Internet intellectual property owners and issues of information security.
In 2012, Andrei was elected co-chairman of the RAEC Commission of hosting providers and registrars. Since 2014 he has been a member of ROCIT’s board.

Pavel Gudkov

Deputy General Director, Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises

Deputy General Director, Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in Science and Technology (FASIE).

Coordinates the section “Assistance to scientific and educational projects” of the Presidential grants foundation joint expert council.
Head of the group “Professional education” of Human resources and education competence center for the Digital Economy Program.
Member of the Agency for strategic initiatives Expert board in the field of “Young professional personnel development”.
Member of the National Technology Initiative (NTI) project committee.
Head of IT-group on the assessment of state-owned companies Innovation Development Programs.
Vice-president of the “League of Education”.

Winner of the Russian national competition “Leaders of Russia”.

Dmitry Dyrmovsky

General Director, Member of the Board of Directors, Speech Technology Center

Dmitry Dyrmovskiy graduated from the Specialized Educational Scientific Centre (SESC) at Novosibirsk State University (NSU) in 1996 and from the Zhukovsky Air force engineering Academy (VVIA) in 2001 and had been working in The Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation as a scientific engineer until 2004.
In 2004 he started working in a Russian company engaged in development of speech technology and multimodal biometrics called STC as a project leader. In 2007 he became Head of the Moscow branch. Since 2012 Mr.Dyrmovskiy is Member of the STCs’ Board of Directors and in 2014 he was named General Director of the company.
In 2014 he successfully completed Executive course at IMD Business School (Switzerland).
In 2014 Dmitry Dyrmovskiy was elected Vice-President of the National Association of contact centers.
In 2015 he became Board Member of RUSSOFT Association.
In 2015 Mr.Dyrmovskiy joined Special Expert Council on Russian Software under the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation.
In 2016 he became Board Member of Russian Software Products Association "Russian Software".

Aleksandr Egorov

General Direcor, Reksoft

Alexander Egorov co-founded one of the TOP 5 software outsourcing companies in Russia, Reksoft (http://www.reksoft.com), in 1991 and has served as CEO from its inception.
Along with his duties at Reksoft Mr.Egorov co-founded and served as a member of the board in a number of successful IT ventures such as Ozon.ru (1998, the largest Russian online-bookstore) and Assist (1999, Russia's leading Internet Payment Gateway).
Mr. Egorov repeatedly enters the “IT TOP 100” rating presented by the largest Russian nation-wide business newspaper “Kommersant”. In April 2003 - February 2004 he served as a Chairman of the Board of Russian Software Development Association RUSSOFT and is a constant member of the Board since that. Mr. Egorov is a frequent speaker in the world’s famous IT-related events hosted by Gartner Group, Forrester Research, ETRE and The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.
Mr. Egorov holds an MBA degree from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Andrey Ershov

General Director, Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS)

Born in 1974 in Kuybyshev.
In 1997 graduated from Samara State Aerospace University, majoring in Systems Engineering, in 2000 from Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics, majoring in Finance and Credit.
In 2004 joined MTS’ Office in the South-West and Volga Region as the Head of Marketing Department. In 2005 transferred to MTS Corporate Center as the Head of Retail Marketing Department. In 2006, appointed Director of Commercial Department in MTS Rossiya, and in 2010 – Director of MTS’ Office in the Urals. In August 2012 got the position of First Deputy CEO for Business Development in MGTS. In 2012, appointed CEO of MGTS.
In 2016, Kommersant Publishing House named Andrey Ershov one of the top five directors in the communications industry (Kommersant’s Top 250 Senior Managers).
About MGTS
Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS) is one of Europe’s largest companies of local line communications. MGTS’ main shareholder is MTS (MTS’ share is 99.1%, including indirect ownership).
MGTS control over 30% of Internet access market and over a quarter of digital TV in Moscow.
MGTS’ GPON optical network exceeds 40 000 km and covers over 95% of households in Moscow. MGTS uses GPON to provide Internet access, digital TV, burglar alarm systems and video surveillance. MGTS actively utilizes smart services and enhances them for Moscow’s mass market.
Powered by MTS, MGTS started a new function of a mobile operator in September 2014. Currently over 200 000 customers use MGTS mobile network.

Pavel Ershov

Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft Rus LLC

In the role of Subsidiary COO Pavel is responsible for running daily business operations and driving business growth for the company across all key market segments in Russia.
Pavel has joined Microsoft in July 2017 from Ingram Micro, global leader in ICT distribution based in California, where he held the position of Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Marketing and Customer Success, leading Service Providers Platforms business unit, focused on supporting Ingram Micro’s platform customers to succeed in the Cloud.
Between 2014 and 2015, Pavel worked in Singapore, where he led sales and overall operations in the Asia-Pacific-Japan region for Parallels. Before moving to Asia, he was responsible for the company’s expansion to Russia, Middle East and Africa.
Prior to joining Parallels in 2011, Pavel spent more than 13 years in Microsoft on various sales and marketing roles, where progressed his career from a marketing manager to Public Sector Lead for Microsoft Russia.
Pavel has more than 19 years of professional experience in the IT Industry, holds a Master degree in Economics and currently based in Moscow, Russia.

Alexandre Zapolsky

Co-founder, Chief Executive Director, LINAGORA

LINAGORA is a French leader in the Open and Free software market. LINAGORA is also present in USA, Canada, Vietnam and Tunisia and many other countries in the world with its software and services. LINAGORA is very active in emerging high-growth countries, particularly in Middle East & Africa.
The mission of LINAGORA is to enable large public and private organizations to develop their digital independence. LINAGORA is a key player in the digital sovereignty for its customers. Today, LINAGORA offers free collaborative solutions and embodies a third digital way between American and Asian offers.

Alexey Katkov

Managing Partner, Sistema

Alexey Katkov graduated from the Academy of Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation with a degree in management. Since 2015 he has been CEO and President of Sistema Venture Capital.
In 2015 Alexey Katkov was first vice-president and COO of JSC SMM (then part of Sistema Group). From 2000 to 2015 he worked at LLC Mail.ru, where he served as vice-president, commercial director and director for international and regional development.

Foued Kefif

Head, Technology and Services Division, Trade and Investment office of the Embassy of France (Business France Russia)

Foued KEFIF is Head of the Technologies & Innovation division at the French Trade & Invest office, at the French Embassy in Moscow, since septembre 2017. By bringing the most promising French Technologies to Russia, his mission tend to foster the trade relations of the new economy. From 2014 to 2017, he was posted in Paris, in charge of developing the French Tech IOT globally. He organized the promotion of La French Tech start-ups at CES Las Vegas during three years. From 2010 to 2014, he got business development positions in Czech Republic and in France for Business France, the French trade & investment agency. He started his career at IBM Global Technology Services at the operations department. In 2016, he was ranked among the 20 French personnalities to follow on twitter. He graduated in International Management Control from a business school in Tours, Centre Region, France.

Alexander Povalko

Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Management Board, RVC

Mr. Aleksandr B. Povalko was born in Lyubertsy, Moscow Region, on May 16, 1970.
He graduated from Ordzhonikidze Moscow Aviation Institute majoring in Radio Engineering (1992) and Maymonid State University majoring in Applied Mathematics (1996).
From 1994 to 2007, Mr. Aleksandr B. Povalko worked as Senior Consultant of Valuation Department, Project Director, and Director of Business Development of PACC.
From 2007 to 2008 — Director of Strategic Planning, RENOVA Stroy Group CJSC.
From 2008 to 2012 — Deputy Head of the State Committee for Youth Affairs of the Russian Federation and Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs.
From 2012 to 2016 — Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
2016 — CEO of RVC.
Information on membership and participation in commissions, committees, advisory councils, and other public agencies:
— Member of the Working Group of the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation for monitoring achievement of targets of social and economic development of the Russian Federation;
— Member of the interdepartmental commission for monitoring efficiency of educational institutions of higher education;
— Member of the interdepartmental working group on implementation of pilot projects at leading engineering and technical universities to build engineering centers and companies;
— Member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Fund for Social and Economic Support of Russian Cinematography;
— Member of the interdepartmental working group for development of the National Technology Initiative.

Shannon Poulin

Vice President, Director for Implementing New Technologies in Global Markets, Intel Corporation

Shannon Poulin is Vice President in the Sales and Marketing Group and Director for Global Markets at Intel Corporation.
Prior to his appointment Shannon worked as a general manager of the Industry Sales Group The mission of the Industry Sales Group is to work with the world's largest organizations in key industry, government and academic segments delivering business value through the effective adoption of solutions architectures designed to solve key industry challenges, creating pull for all of Intel’s products and technologies. The Industry Sales Group also delivers leadership messaging and sets strategic direction for accounts across all identified vertical focus areas.
Prior to his current role Poulin was Vice President in the Data Center Group where he served terms as general manager of both the Datacenter Marketing Group and the Enterprise IT Solutions Group where he was responsible for marketing activities across all datacenter segments and business engagement with Enterprise IT accounts.
Poulin has also served as global account director for a multi-national customer account at Intel Corporation where he was responsible for every aspect of driving a multi-billion-dollar enterprise relationship that spanned business and technical disciplines.
Poulin joined Intel in 1999 as a strategic planner in the Intel Performance Microprocessor Division. Earlier in his Intel career, he held director and manager roles that encompassed product marketing, performance benchmarking, competitive analysis, product launches and press/analyst engagement.
Before joining Intel, Poulin worked for Microchip Technology in a combination of sales and technical marketing positions. He began his career with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, where he designed embedded systems for military and nautical use.
Poulin holds three patents in the fields of engineering and microprocessor design. He has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's degree in business administration, both from Florida Institute of Technology.

Carlo Rossotto

Leading Specialist for Information and Communications Technologies, Regional Coordinator, The World Bank Group

Carlo Rossotto is the Lead ICT Specialist and Regional Coordinator in ECA and MENA regions in the ICT Sector Unit at the World Bank. He has previously held the positions of Middle East and North Africa Regional Coordinator in the GICT Department and the Senior ICT Specialist at the World Bank. Prior to that, Mr. Rossotto served as economist at the Inter-American Development Bank and the Foundazione Roselli. Mr. Rossotto authored several World Bank publications focused on the role of ICT and broadband strategies in the job creation. Mr. Rossotto holds a Master’s degree in Financial and Commercial Regulation, Utilities Regulation, and Financial Market Regulation from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Università Commerciale 'Luigi Bocconi.' He speaks six languages and is fluent in Italian, French, and Spanish.

Vladimir Rubanov

Managing Director, Rosplatforma

Anastasios Tzikas

President of the Board of Directors, Thessaloniki International Fair Helexpo SA

Anastasios Tzikas was born in Thessaloniki in 1958 and graduated from the faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki from the Department of Electrical Engineering.
Anastasios Tzikas is President of the Federation of Hellenic Information Technology and Communications Enterprises (SEPE) and of the High Technology Business Park Technopolis Thessaloniki S.A.
He is also the President of the Board of Thessaloniki International Fair – Helexpo S.A., a Board Member of the Information Society S.A., a Member of the Hellenic Australian Business Council, a Board Member of the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization as well as Honorary President of the Association of Information Technology Companies of Northern Greece (SEPVE), of which he was President for more than 15 years.
He was one of the founders of Singular Software S.A. where he was Managing Director from 1987 to 2004 and President of the Board of Directors until 2005. During this period he was also Managing Director of Singular Bulgaria and Singular Romania (1995-2004), Vice President of Internet Hellas Telecommunications (2001-2003), as well as Managing Director of Delta Singular (2001-2004)

Kirill Filippov

General Director, SPB TV

Kirill is the General Director of SPB TV. He founded the company together with Sebastian-Justus Schmidt in 2007.
Today, the company is one of the world's leading providers of end-to-end OTT TV, IP TV and mobile TV solutions for video content delivery to multiscreen devices. The company's user application, SPB TV, is available on all mobile operating systems and its viewing audience has reached 30 million people worldwide.
Previously, Kirill was Director of the Economics and Finance Directorate for the independent non-profit organization, TV-Novosti. Prior to TV-Novosti, he was Deputy Minister of Press Radio and Television Broadcasting, Deputy General Director for Sales at Lenenergo and Deputy Chairman of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.
Kirill worked and studied in the UK within an intergovernmental programme (corporate governance and finance) and holds a PhD in Physics and Mathematics in Mathematical Cybernetics from St. Petersburg State University.

Dmitry Shushkin

Chief Executive Officer, ABBYY Russia

Sergey Emdin

Chief Executive Officer, Tele2

Sergey Emdin was born May 20, 1971 in Leningrad. In 1994 he graduated from the St. Petersburg State University and the Kansas State University. In 1998 studied at the Harvard Business School and 2008 graduated from the Irkutsk State Technical University. He holds a PhD in Economics. Work experience: 1994−2000 he worked in the Moscow branch of McKinsey & Co. In 2000 became first deputy CEO of Ulyanovsky Avtozavod. Since 2001 occupied senior management positions at enterprises of Severstal Group. In 2002 joined JSC Irkutskenergo, held the post of the company’s CEO in 2005−2008, between June 2009 and March 2010. Between May 2008 and May 2009, he worked as CEO of LLC Evrosibenergo. From April 2010 to February 2016 Sergey Emdin held the post of LLC Air Gates of Northern Capital. In February 2016, Sergey Emdin took up the post of CEO at Tele2. Married, has three children.

Michael Yakushev

Executive Vice President for Government Relations, VimpelCom

A graduate of the International Law Department of MGIMO under the MFA of the USSR, Mr. Yakushev served as diplomat of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and later as an official of the Russian Ministry of Information and Telecommunications. From the mid-1990s, he was one of the most prominent experts in Russia and the CIS in information law, Internet administration and information security. He represented the Russian Federation on the G8 DOT-Force Workgroup (2000–2001), the Workgroup under the UN General Secretary for Internet Administration (2004–2005) and the Special Commission of the Council of Europe on Problems of Transboarder Data Flows (2010–2011). He spearheaded the legal services of Russian representatives in Global One / Equant, Microsoft and SAP; in 2010–2012, he was Vice-President of the Mail.ru Group. In 2014, Mr. Yakushev was appointed Vice-President of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He has written numerous research works on the theory of law, information law and Internet administration.