FORUM PROGRAM

Expert session: SMART CITY

Digital technology is helpful in creating a comfortable and safe living environment. It brings resource saving to a new level, ensures effective management of the housing and utility complex, provides electronic facilities for maintaining safety in cities, optimizes and increases convenience of transport and social services, enhances communication between residents and the public authorities.

Many Smart City elements are being actively implemented in large cities. The market currently offers over 250 projects containing Smart City elements.

Ways to combine disparate solutions into a single comfortable urban environment. Applying recommended standards in practice. Finding comprehensive solutions. How can federal target financing sources be used to that end? Ways to connect to pilot projects.

More than half of people in Kursk region live in small towns and villages, which is typical for all regions of Central Russia. How can both urban agglomerations and small communities be connected to the program? What are ways to fully unleash the potential of the ICT cluster and the regional producers of components in implementing the Smart City program?

Search for best solutions: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SERVING ORDINARY PEOPLE. IMPROVING LIFE QUALITY IN A DIGITAL REGION

Meeting participants are divided into two groups:

• representatives of the public: deputies, public officials of municipalities, social activists, social workers
• heads of technology providers, representatives of the digital community (chief executives of ICT companies, IT specialists from universities, heads of departments of regional governments responsible for the digital technology sector

The first group formulates the most pressing issues for the population that can be solved using digital technology. The second group offers approaches to solving the issues. The meeting will result in the development of a roadmap of priority measures for improving life quality of people through digital technology.

Track 1: HOUSING & UTILITIES

How does technology change the housing and utilities sector and contribute to the comfort of citizens? How should the service quality model work to serve the end user? “We have consumed this volume, we will pay precisely for this volume”: principles for building a transparent model for residents. IoT in the city: dispatching, meters, outdoor lighting, monitoring systems – what are citizens’ expectations? How is the quality of fulfilling residents’ requests monitored?

Management companies are unwilling to spend money on installation of local information systems. What body should become a financial regulator to develop a comfortable, trouble-free, economically advantageous environment for residents of a multi-family house, including the yard? Who should be responsible for the use of IT to improve safety and quality of life?

Track 2: ECOLOGY

Ways to ensure transparency of information on the region’s ecological status. What digital solutions can be used for that purpose? How can cities and settlements be kept environmentally safe? What issues of municipalities and residents can be solved with a digital environmental passport of the region?

Public online monitoring of air and water quality: who should be responsible for that?

The role of corporations in building a clean environment. Use of IT solutions to support environmental movements. The rubbish issue: how digital technologies help put things right?

What technologies are there for safe conversion of agricultural waste?

Track 3: TRANSPORT

Intelligent transport system: one of the key components of the Smart City complex. Smart traffic lights, public transport stops, information displays make the public transport system comfortable and convenient.

How do smart public transport stops improve carriage of passengers in cities?

How does planning of parking facilities in a city improve the local traffic? Ensuring mutual understanding among residents in the development of urban parking facilities. Ways to establish traffic control in a city as part of the Safe City project. How does video recording of offences affect traffic safety?

Expert session: DIGITAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF REGION

Introduction of digital management elements provides new opportunities for accelerated development of the region. They establish full-fledged real-time interaction between the power authorities and citizens, offer new effective solutions to urgent problems, promptly detect shortcomings in public administration and save budget resources. The collection of up-to-date, complete and reliable information from enterprises and other sources makes it possible to assess the real situation in the region resulting in better decision-making.

What are the main principles underlying the “Digital Public Administration” federal project, how can it be implemented at the regional level? How can the new service government model improve the efficiency of administration for the benefit of citizens? What kind of digital public administration systems are used in the regions of Central Russia? Solving the current problems in the public administration digitalization process: high transaction costs, manual data input, poor integration of disparate systems. Configuring digital public administration systems for collecting information, recording events and forecasting social / economic processes.

Brainstorming session: FORMATION OF AN ICT SECTOR IN THE ECONOMY. REGIONAL DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Digital transformation requires from regions substantial spending on the creation of platforms, facilities and communications. The existing demand for “digital production” is already estimated at billions of rubles annually in each region, with further growth prospects. This creates a large market for ICT companies. Without local operators, orders and money leak away to other regions.

The ICT sector becomes as important as the traditional industries. It creates jobs and contributes to the budget of the region. It is vital that the region should have its own ICT cluster.

Another equally important task is to successfully launch digital solutions taking into account the demand for digital platforms in the region and the existing financial and human resources. The Regional Digital Development Center can assume this responsibility. The task of the center is to identify the priority needs for digital platforms in the region, to find resources for their creation from scratch or for adjusting the existing solutions and to set the project in motion.

The brainstorming session aims at proposing measures encouraging the ICT cluster development in the region and identifying steps towards the creation of a full-fledged Regional Digital Development Center.

Expert session: DIGITAL PRODUCTION

Track 1: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES

The competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises largely depends on the level of production digitalization. IT becomes a key element of the manufacturing process at increasingly more enterprises. Digitalization is developing with a focus on modeling technology cycles, creating digital twins, big data analysis, new intelligent robotics, Industrial Internet of Things. The application of these solutions boosts productivity, improves product quality and enhances environmental safety.

How do large manufacturers enter the digital age in Central Russia? What digital systems turn out to be most cost-effective? What difficulties do producers face while going digital?

Solving the personnel issue. How can a company ensure industrial safety? How should it respond to cyber threats?

Track 2: DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTION OF COMPONENTS IN THE REGION

State digitalization programs, widespread use of IT in the manufacturing industry and agriculture create a huge market for the electronic industry.

How do producers of components meet this challenge? What is done to make production of components for Smart City projects, for industrial safety systems, for precision farming an essential part of the region’s economy?

Meetup: DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM AGRO-INDUSTRIAL BUSINESSES USING ICT SOLUTIONS

The meet-up format can be described as a meeting of passionate people wishing to informally discuss and solve common issues.

The meeting will focus on the use of existing capabilities or, possibly, building a new digital platform in the agro-industrial sector. The mission of such a platform is to offer small and medium-sized businesses fair market conditions. It is no secret that amid the ongoing expansion of large agro-industrial businesses accompanied by monopolization, small producers cannot sustain the tough competition and go bankrupt.

The lack of jobs and inability to realize their entrepreneurial potential drives people to other regions.

Digital platforms can help farmers find niche markets, ensure efficient sales, protect small producers from hostile actions of large corporations. Such systems have proven effective in many countries. Their application will increase the number of agricultural workers and specialists, improve the well-being of rural people and give a chance to revive small communities.

The discussion should yield a set of recommendations for implementing the platform aimed at promoting entrepreneurship in the agro-industrial sector.

Open discussion: MASS COMMUNICATIONS IN A DIGITAL REGION. NEW MEDIA CONFIGURATION ON THE INTERNET

Digital technologies are shaping a new communication landscape. The classical concept of media is gradually fading away from the media space, superseded by network providers of information and communication services. Increasingly more often, the Internet is preferred over newspapers, magazines and television as a source of information, with coverage of events by bloggers, people’s news writers and various experts instead of professional journalists.

On the one hand, network interaction makes it possible for residents of the region to highlight the most important facts and events not covered by the official media, on the other hand, it shapes a favorable environment for unpunished stove-piping, launching information bots and destabilizing the society.

Track 1: REGIONAL MEDIA IN THE CYBERSPACE

What is the regional media’s position in the cyberspace? How can this space be protected from unverified information? Should the authorities intervene in digital communities? What are ways to protect the information environment from Internet fakes and stove-piping in social networks?

Channeling energy of networks into the joint solution of the region’s problems. How can high-quality journalism be preserved in the era of social media? What should be the source of income for media: PR, advertising, content?

What about the future of traditional media in the regions? This ever-topical problem has been substantially aggravated by the end of analog television in 2019.

Track 2: DIGITAL TELEVISION

What lies in store for regional TV channels in this connection, and do they have a future at all? How should regional TV companies develop after the analog broadcasting is stopped? How should high-quality professional journalism be preserved on other platforms under current conditions? What should be the source of income for media: PR, advertising, content? What are ways to expand the audience in the digital age?

The panel discussion can and should provide opportunities for finding specific solutions to the most pressing issues of the media sector.

OPEN DIALOGUE WITH ROMAN STAROVOYT, ACTING GOVERNOR OF KURSK REGION

Moderated by: Dmitry Shchugorev, Russian TV journalist, Russia-24 news channel

Plenary session: DIGITAL REGION

Discussion agenda:

REGION’S DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

The onrush of technology, primarily digital technology, has become an objective fact. The mission of the regions is to spearhead new transformations so as to ensure prosperity to the benefit of their inhabitants. The digital reforms should prioritize people and their needs.

• What are the main aspects of the region’s social and economic development strategy, how are they linked to plans for digitalization?
• What are the key problems of ordinary people, how can digital technologies help solve them?

DIGITALIZATION AS A DRIVER FOR NEW JOBS

One of the prejudices against the digital economy is its negative impact on employment. This, to some extent, holds true as digital technologies boost productivity and reduce labor costs. That said, digital technologies are used to create solutions opening markets of goods and services for lots of entrepreneurs. Special opportunities arise for small and medium-sized businesses. Digital transformations should spur the overall business energy of the region, involving new players in the economy and creating new jobs.

• What platform solutions are in demand with small and medium businesses?
• What production niches does digitalization open for sole proprietors in Central Russia?
• How can digital platforms ease tension between large and small businesses?
• How many jobs can appear in the Central Federal district owing to new digital platforms?
• How could implementation of digital technologies improve employment in remote towns and villages?

USING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE PEOPLE’S LIFE

The introduction of digital platforms in healthcare, education, culture brings social services closer to ordinary people. However, no software can provide high-quality services if the system lacks doctors, teachers, cultural workers, or without the necessary equipment.

• Finding a balance between the number of social services and their digital form
• What problems would be solved with the penetration of digital platforms into healthcare, education, culture?

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR A COMFORTABLE LIVING ENVIRONMENT

Implementation of information & communication technologies in various spheres of life can improve all aspects of life for different social groups. It brings regional management to a new level, makes urban and rural services more convenient and accessible, ensures effective dialogue between the government bodies on one side, citizens and businesses on the other side.

• How will the full-scale launch of a situation center influence the quality of management in the region?
• Impact of information & communication technologies on the local transport infrastructure
• Moscow has developed and successfully implemented a number of promising urban management platforms. How can regions adjust these solutions to their needs?

DIGITALIZATION FACTORY FOR THE REGION

The Regional Digital Development Center should be the single powerhouse for management of digital transformations being responsible for determining priorities and implementing digital transformations. The center should launch digital conveyors for adapting external platforms and creating new ICT projects to serve the needs of the region.

• What are the Regional Digital Development Center’s objectives and functions?
• Principles underlying the Center’s operation
• Potential forms of financing: budget, private investments, co-financing under public private partnership schemes

DIGITAL PRODUCTION

Digitalization opens unprecedented opportunities for the creation and development of an ICT industry, the source of new value and new jobs. Being a developer of digital solutions is the most preferable development strategy for the region. This, however, requires digital elite, i.e. companies and people with adequate expertise and experience in digital development. Unfortunately, digital economies are underdeveloped in most regions of Central Russia, the regions have to “import” digital platforms from advanced centers.

• Ways to tune economic regulation so as to stimulate the creation of a full-fledged ICT cluster in the region
• Can major regional universities catalyze the setting-up of ICT companies?
• Ways to attract talented programmers and other specialists to the region
• Development vectors for the production of components for the digital economy

SMALL BUSINESS: A DRIVER FOR A DIGITAL REGION

Meeting with the participation of Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development

• Digital solutions for development of small businesses, successful practices
• Red tape reduction for business creation and development by harnessing digital progress
• Platforms that enable small business owners to access new markets
• Ways to organize the creation of a new electronic environment focused on specifics of small businesses. Who will be responsible for the design, creation, financing?
• How do information products for SMEs fit into the digital strategy of Russia?
• Can marketplaces with logistic support drive the development of small businesses?
• What electronic services can catalyze business activity in small towns and communities?
• Entrepreneur’s digital literacy: the key to the successful conduct of business in the ICT environment
• Small business: an important resource for stimulating employment in a digital region