Technological sovereignty as a development factor in the modern world

Venue: the city of Kazan, IEC KAZAN EXPO, Hall 12

Time: 18.05.2023, 9:00–10:00

Moderator: Roman A. Shaikhutdinov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan

Speakers:

Sheremettsev Eduard Mikhailovich, Deputy Minister of Power-Engineering of the Russian Federation;

Evgeny Ignatievich Petrov, Head of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use;

Akhmerov Timur Maratovich, General Director of Bars Group Company;

Ahmad Ganatyan Jaromi, Chairman of the TFM Chip Board of Directors

Khasyanova Gulnara Shamilyevna, General Director of Mikron, PAO;

Bezrukov Andrey Olegovich, President of the Association for Technological Sovereignty Export.

The achievement of technological sovereignty will be the condition for the development of any world power in the next decade. Restricted access to international licenses, technologies and equipment requires the creation of high-tech solutions within the country. The task of developing new technological solutions ensuring demand and implementation in the new economic conditions comes to the fore.

Not asingle country in the world of today possesses technological sovereignty. Since 2014, the issue of functioning of critical infrastructure has been acute for Russia. Russia has adopted the Concept of Technological Sovereignty until 2030, which contains 13 priority guidelines.

Eduard Sheremettsev, Deputy Minister of Power-Engineering of the Russian Federation, emphasized that critical information security is an important component of technological sovereignty. Programs of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade are being implemented to support electronics manufacturers in Russia, a system of subsidies and preferential lending has been built in addition to measures ensuring technological independence and security of critical information infrastructure, enshrined in Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No.166. Thirty three industrial centers of competence have been established representing a consortium of leading companies which determine the outstanding issues of the industry in terms of software replacement.

Evgeny Petrov, the Head of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use, noted that according to the forecasts offered by the experts, the volume of alternative energy will grow by 2050; but due to the growth of the economy, the level of energy consumption in general will increase, including oil and gas consumption, which will increase by 35%. According to the speaker, fossil fuels will remain the core of the power-engineering sector. Today, the mineral exploration market applies a high share of imported software, the basis of which was laid by domestic programmers. Russia is able to build competencies in critical areas and make a product competitive in the field of oil and gas technologies, but this process will not be fast.

Timur Akhmerov, General Director of Bars Group Company, believes that there are many services offered in IT area in Russia which are not in the least inferior to Western counterparts, and which demonstrate not simply import substitution, but even proactive import advance substitution. Since 2014, a large number of IT products for the state segment and business have been developed in Russia. In 2022, 73 thousand IT companies were registered in Russia, the revenue of which amounted to 2.4 trillion rubles, which is 35% more than in 2021. The speaker highlighted the main trends which can be traced in the software market in Russia. Among them: an active participation of the state (Register of Russian Software, Rostec Technology Platform), consolidation of companies, inter sectoral cooperation, advanced training of specialists, and others. Timur Akhmerov believes that in the near future Russia will be in demand on the global IT market.

Ahmad Ganatyan Jaromi, the Board of Directors Chairman of the TFM Chip touched upon such an urgent topic as the production of microcircuits. The center of semiconductors’ research and development is shifting from the US to other countries. China now produces 68% of silicon and 90% of gallium. Today, the largest chips’ developers are the USA, Taiwan, and the UK. The entire chain from development to the final product takes place in these markets. According to the speaker, the role of the United States in the production of microcircuits will decrease by 2030. At the stage of assembly, packaging and testing, Taiwan and Asian countries are in the lead. Currently, there are only a few companies which have all the production links and supply semiconductors to the whole world. The situation will aggravate by 2030, the market will shrink.

The production of semiconductors requires huge investments, serious technological solutions, human resources, and government support. There is a sufficient level of scientific developments, expertise and budget in a number of Asian countries. They could become players in the market and become suppliers for Russia, Iran and other countries.

Gulnara Khasyanova, General Director of Mikron, PAO is confident that technological sovereignty can help preserve national culture and values. In the field of high technologies, such as space, microelectronics, which require a huge amount of funding, it is necessary to create international alliances. International cooperation is needed at the level of research and development, and at the level of production, based on the division of the production process by countries, at the level of certification, as well as at the level of the educational system.

Andrey Bezrukov, the President of the Association for the Export of Technological Sovereignty is sure that the availability of political sovereignty depends entirely on technological sovereignty. Currently, 2 blocks have been formed in the world: Anglo-Saxon and Chinese. Russia has not reached the critical mass of the market, technology, but it has a huge potential. Russia, together with India, Iran and Islamic countries, should start working on its own production and standards. It is necessary to build partnerships, create centers of competence, and build its technological policy. Russia will have no future unless it creates its technological space in the next 15 years.