NOVO-OGARYOVO, June 10. /TASS/. Russia should "pick up on the trends" in digitalization that arose during the coronavirus pandemic, President Putin said at a meeting on communications and IT industry. The head of state called for being proactive, while ensuring cyber security.
"It’s necessary, as they say, to catch these trends of switching to digital [technologies], to take an example from the leading digitalization companies," Putin said.
The President urged creating conditions for "accelerated development and implementation of domestic IT and communication technologies, which will serve as the basis for creating high-quality, sought-after products and services."
"We need to be as proactive as possible, cut off all sorts of archaic obstacles, naturally consider all aspects of ensuring cyber security, protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens," Putin stressed.
He recalled that "many key decisions for the development of the IT and communications industries have already been provided, including within the framework of the Digital Economy national project.
"A number of specific instructions were also given in the address to the parliament in January. All of them should be implemented," the head of state said.
IT industry defines modern life style
The President noted that the IT industry in many respects determines the dynamics, style, capabilities of modern human life, the level of business and social activity, the prospects of the labor market, the development of cities and territories."
"In this area, we have already employed more than a million specialists, about 60,000 organizations are operating, and they are achieving significant, significant results," he said.
The head of state stressed that "in a number of parameters, including the development of mobile communications, Internet access, Russia is confidently among the world leaders, domestic companies offer reliable software solutions that are competitive both on domestic and global markets."
According to Putin, "the role and importance of the IT and communication industries was especially pronounced in the context of forced restrictions associated with the epidemic, when many enterprises, as well as educational and other institutions, switched to a remote work, when it was necessary to implement the state’s decisions to support Russian families and whole sectors of the economy."
"We were able to do this together, in particular with the help of modern information technologies, the infrastructure that has been created over the years by the joint efforts of the state, business, and innovative teams," the President said. He thanked the Russian telecommunications companies, industry specialists, who, under the conditions of increased workload, continued to provide high quality services.
Advantages behind restrictions
The head of state noted that the current situation was not only a challenge for the communications and IT sectors.
"Those companies that met the growing demand, provided free services, ultimately won, <...> managed to significantly increase their customer base," he explained.
"In addition, the forced restrictions motivated many enterprises and organizations to take a fresh look at familiar business processes, to actively introduce digital solutions to increase the efficiency of their work," Putin said.
According to him, "life itself has shown how important it is to quickly and boldly use the wide possibilities of digitalization, and not only in business, but also in public services, in education, in medicine, in people's everyday lives.".