YAKUTSK, April 25. /TASS/. Yakutia developed an information analytical system to monitor seasonal supplies to the region for coming winters, the so-called Northern Supplies. The system will be used to track cargoes, control stock and supplies, said Artyom Petukhov, commercial director of the Smart Unit Company, a business resident at the Yakutia technology park.

The improvement of the Northern Supplies system is of great importance for Yakutia. The system has been used to deliver to remote settlements, especially in the region's Arctic part, fuel, food and other vital goods. The regional specific feature is that most supplies are shipped there by rivers within a short summer navigation period.

"Any delays in deliveries to Yakutia result in high expenses, and we have developed the Northern Supplies information and analytical system to make all processes automatic. The main goal is to structure the process to avoid any delays. The system will begin working in a test mode this year as the navigation begins, and then we will finalize it for better performance," he told TASS.

Joint project

The Smart Unit Company has been working on the Northern Supplies information and analytical system jointly with the regional Center for Information and Communication Technologies. The project was ordered and coordinated by Yakutia's State Committee for the Safety of the Population, the local Ministry for the Development of the Arctic and the Affairs of the Peoples of the North, and Yakutia's Ministry of Innovation, Digital Development, Information and Communication Technologies. The region's Governor Aisen Nikolaev had supervised the work.

The system includes several modules to make all the stages digital and automatic. It has a built-in cartographic module and a real-time cargo tracking option. "Thanks to the system, the Arctic districts may submit applications for plans and product supplies and file updates on remaining or available fuel and lubricants, food products and other goods. The data-based system can provide analytical information. Generally speaking, the project is aimed at cutting risks of disruptions in Northern Supplies and at making forecasts," he continued.

Later on, the project will be integrated into the Silvan system - another product by the Smart Unit Company, which was launched in 2022 to counter wildfires. This integration would mean that operators will monitor wildfires smoke, which hinders the river navigation.

About 500 organizations will be connected to the system. "They are participants in the Northern Supplies to Yakutia. Including transport and cargo companies, district officials, industrial enterprises, key stakeholders - Yakutopttorg, Sakhaneftegazsbyt and others," he added.

Objectives

The system is designed to unite all parties to the Northern Supplies into a single digital circuit for further work there, and to cut the time for sending data, requests and other papers between all the participants. By using the project, the region will plan effectively the demand for life support cargoes. Effectiveness of interaction between the parties will increase at every stage, thus cutting delivery terms, making supplies regular, said Sergey Neustroev, Yakutia's First Deputy Minister for the Development of the Arctic and the Affairs of the Peoples of the North.

"This is one of the tools to achieve our goal of ensuring the safety of people in remote and hard-to-reach settlements, where living conditions depend directly on the Northern Supplies. Due to more accurate planning, in particular, we will make more effective the state support for deliveries of food products, will make use of budget funds transparent and will create conditions to attract federal funds to the Northern Supplies. The digital system will serve our people, improving the living standards in the region, in the Arctic districts," he said.

The system will be implemented fully by 2030, when all the processes are automatic, the authority's deputy chair, Yana Naumova, said.

"The digital platform will facilitate the work of customers, suppliers and, later on, carriers. In case of a disruption, the platform will identify the problem to guarantee it is addressed as soon as possible," she said.

On March 22, Russia's State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill regulating the Northern Supplies procedure. The national Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic stressed the bill provides for the creation of a federal information system "to monitor the process and analyze information, to monitor the goods shipment and to identify timely risks of supply disruptions," she continued.

"In order to exchange experience, the Northern Supplies system developers have met with a team of the Ministry's developers, working on the federal system," she added. "The teams have discussed how the regional and federal systems will counteract for mutually beneficial cooperation in the future.".