In order to create favourable conditions for the growth of the IT sector in Russia, it is necessary to develop the technological infrastructure on a large scale, invest in the formation of a system of innovation development and implementation, maintain a competitive economic climate, and actively involve the government.
Such conclusions were reached by Economist Intelligent Unit specialists in the study of the IT industry competitiveness index in the countries of the world, conducted with the support of BSA.
For the second year in a row, EIU specialists have been researching and comparing the development of the IT industry in 66 countries to determine their competitiveness. Despite the fact that 20 countries retained their positions last year, 9 countries rose in the rating and 11 countries did not retain their previous positions.
Despite its low position in the overall ranking, Russia was ranked 29th in the IT workforce category. For several years, Russia has been a popular destination for software development outsourcing due to the annual education system of talented technical specialists. The low place is due to the lack of technical education, namely, the lack of courses in management, project management and other business disciplines. The technical education systems of India and China face similar challenges. Nevertheless, experts who participated in the survey agree that fundamental technical education in Russia is the best in the world. The top places in this category of the index are occupied by the USA, Singapore, Great Britain and Ireland.
Russia ranks 42nd in the IT Infrastructure Development category because of its low PC ownership among the population, broadband penetration and Internet access. However, Russia's performance in this category is almost double that of China and eight times that of India. In addition, the "innovation system" category was relatively low (R&D environment - 29th place). However, the orientation of the Russian government towards building an innovative economy should significantly stimulate the development of the innovation climate in the country in the future.
Russia received low marks in the categories of business and legal climate. This is primarily due to high administrative barriers and the level of corruption. Nevertheless, a proactive stance and measures proposed by the government and the president in the field of strengthening the legal framework and fighting corruption can contribute to a significant improvement in this area.
"The development of the national information technology sector can be a good platform for creating a diversified and innovative economy," says Christopher Brennan, Chairman of the Russian BSA Committee. "Russia has enormous human and resource potential, the skillful use of which will allow building a dynamic IT industry.
"The government and the private sector need to take into account a range of different factors that ensure the competitiveness of the IT sector," says Denis McCauley, director of Global Technology Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
"Without a favorable economic environment and a well-developed legal regulation regime, skilled human resources, support for innovation and the widespread use of information technologies in society, not many countries will be able to rely on the formation of a productive IT sector of the economy."
To be continued in the next part