Business programme

Even though more than 800 universities in Russia today have IT training programmes, and the number of state-funded IT majors has increased by 150% over the past five years, the country has a shortage of IT developers of 500,000–700,000 people. The data economy, which is based on the use of modern IT solutions, quantum technologies, and artificial intelligence, will require further changes in the established HR training system. How can we ensure that innovative skills for the data economy are acquired on a massive scale? How should we provide IT training at all stages of life? What is the image of the specialist of the future: what skills are needed given the continuous updating of IT technologies? How can we ensure that specialists are trained to develop domestic standards and protocols for working with data, cloud platforms, data centres, open-source repositories, and in-house computing power? Who will train engineers to solve problems related to the development of communication systems, highly sensitive sensors, quantum sensors, quantum communications technologies, and quantum encryption? What are the most effective methods and practices for training data scientists? How can we increase the efficiency of collaboration between educational centres, the government, IT companies that develop breakthrough digital technologies, academic institutions, and partners from countries that have friendly relations with Russia? How can we make the data science profession more attractive to students and graduates? What new approaches to teaching and educating students could improve the quality of data science training? What are the current trends in the development of AI in the higher education system as part of the implementation of Russia’s Data Economy national project?

Moderator
Ivan Lobanov, Rector, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics

Ivan Lobanov

Rector, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics

Panellists
Alexey Agafonov, First Deputy General Director, Russia – Land of Opportunity
Anton Dumin, Head of the Department of Information Technology, Automation and Telecommunications, Gazprom Neft
Maxim Kolesnikov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation
Konstantin Markelov, Vice President, Director of Business Technologies, Tinkoff Bank
Alexey Nazarov, Vice President – Director of Non-Banking Services Development, Promsvyazbank
Sergey Plugotarenko, General Director, Digital Economy
Anna Stepanova, Deputy Vice President for Education Projects, VK
Victor Xu, Co-founder, Director, Zhengwei University
Alexey Fedorov, "Quantum Information Technologies" Scientific Group Head, Russian Quantum Center; Director, Institute of Physics and Quantum Engineering, MISIS University of Science and Technology
Alexander Khinshtein, Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications

Alexey Agafonov

First Deputy General Director, Russia – Land of Opportunity

Anton Dumin

Head of the Department of Information Technology, Automation and Telecommunications, Gazprom Neft

Maxim Kolesnikov

Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation

Konstantin Markelov

Vice President, Director of Business Technologies, Tinkoff Bank

Konstantin Markelov is responsible for implementing new technologies at Tinkoff, as well as for business analytics, partnerships with technical universities, talent acquisition and educational programmes. He has been with the Company since 2007, starting out as an analyst and taking an active part in its development. He launched several important projects and led the Company to employ business analysts (technologists). In 2012, he was appointed Vice President.

Alexey Nazarov

Vice President – Director of Non-Banking Services Development, Promsvyazbank

Qualification: Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, MBA; MIT Sloan School of Management: Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance, majors in “Financial Management” (with honors). Experience: Alexey has international experience as a head of strategy consulting projects, M&A support and operations consulting projects. Recent projects: Strategy development for a leading bridge construction engineering company; Strategic diagnostics for a leading bridge construction engineering company; Management model for an engineering company; Development of organizational structure and KPI system for a major construction company; Development strategy elaboration for a leading machine-building holding; Financial block development for the SME 2030 strategy (received gratitude awards from the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation); Universal banking strategy development; Development of innovation KPIs for the leading pipeline company; Strategy development for a postal operator; Analysis of market strategy, distribution system and market position for the construction of a copper wire rod-manufacturing plant in the RF; Strategy and business model development and fundraising assistance to the agricultural cluster in one of the RF regions; Supermarket chain (Beijing, China): market research to optimize the price strategy. Development of the price strategy implementation plan; Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation: preparation of M3 Federal Highway development and reconstruction strategy; Power generating company (Moscow): advising on the optimization of procurement, personnel incentivization and assessment systems; Business concept development for the Olympic technological cluster on the territory of the Skolkovo Innovation Center, including the rationale of the business plan components, best practice benchmarking and financial model development.

Sergey Plugotarenko

General Director, Digital Economy

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. 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 – 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, 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. Since 2010, he has been director of The Russian Association for Electronic Communications (NP RAEC). Since October 1, 2022 – General Director, Digital Economy

Anna Stepanova

Deputy Vice President for Education Projects, VK

Victor Xu

Co-founder, Director, Zhengwei University

Co-founder of ZhengWei University
Member of International Telecom Academy
Co-Founder of Huawei
Founder of Honor smartphone brand
Consultant for President Administration of Russia “Internet+China”
President of JD.com IBG
President of Ucloudlink group
Strategic advisor for China Railway group
Qinghua Univeristy, MTSU named Bauman

Alexey Fedorov

"Quantum Information Technologies" Scientific Group Head, Russian Quantum Center; Director, Institute of Physics and Quantum Engineering, MISIS University of Science and Technology

Alexander Khinshtein

Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications

Front row participants
Mohammad Alajanabi, Associate Professor, Imam Ja’afar Al-Sadiq University; Editor in Chief, Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity (online)
Evgeny Danchikov, Minister of the Government of Moscow, Head of the Main Control Department of the City of Moscow

Evgeny Danchikov

Minister of the Government of Moscow, Head of the Main Control Department of the City of Moscow