My Kama holidays: as governor, Perm citizens and Skolkovo gathered to digitize their homeland
I think you do not need to be an expert on tourism to assume that Perm is not the most popular holiday destination. Unless, of course, you are not a resident of the Perm region or a fan of the opera. Yes, operas: The Perm Opera and Ballet Theater cannot boast of the history of the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky Theater, but managed to reach their level in importance . I, like many residents of Moscow, would have seen Russia no further than Sheremetyevo, if not for the work. And it was precisely for business that I had to check in at the Bolshoe Savino airport for the first time recently, when on May 18 I flew into a link to the conference “Concept of the development of the digital economy of the Perm Krai” organized by the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO together with the Perm company ER-Telecom Holding JSC with the filing of the new governor of the Perm region Maxim Reshetnikov.
As you can guess, in the photo it looks as boring as it sounds.Therefore, for KDPV I had to resort to expensive computer graphics.
Perm was unexpectedly close - only two hours from Moscow. And in two time zones - therefore, upon landing, the clock jumps by 4 hours from Moscow departure time. That's not cool. But on the other hand, it is very fun to fly back: the plane, like a langolier, swallows two hours of time, and sits in Moscow at about the same time as when it took off. Or even earlier - it is quite possible to write down the message “five minutes ago to yourself” and when landing, when the clock changes to Moscow time, you can be five minutes ago. We sat in a brand new, open only in November last year, the international terminal of Perm airport. It looks rather compact - no comparison with Moscow monsters stretching for kilometers - and at the same time the whole time that I spent there, it was almost deserted. Again, compared to almost everywhere overloaded airports, this is a pleasant change. Flights from Moscow and back fly from early morning to late evening. Schedule tight as the bus schedule. Late for the flight? Do not get up, anyway soon will be next. Prices, by the standards of aviation, is also almost a bus - 2000–3000₽. All together, this leaves a pleasant feeling of “from Moscow on hand”. ')
Perm in 2018 is a puff cake from epochs, topped with a layer of globalization. Through the global brands of chain establishments and shops linking Prague, Moscow, Perm and Amsterdam into a single cultural space, the Soviet foundation, covered with traces of zero-thrash architecture, is not yet clearly visible, creating a pleasantly surrealistic feeling of a popard between worlds : as if I returned to my childhood, to post-Soviet Severodvinsk, without letting the iPhone out of my hands. But McDonalds and Pull & Bear are still an indicator of normality for the modern metropolis, one of the elements of the designer, which forms a single global context, understandable to city dwellers of the entire planet.
The uniqueness of Perm is in its cultural ambitions inherited by the city from the “enlightened governor” Oleg Chirkunov. The logo of the city, made in the studio of Lebedev in 2009 , caused a squall of banter in the runet. But the success of the Perm Opera is no longer a reason for joking. Coproductions with European opera houses are respected (and you also need to understand the opera, but how it comes to logos is how every Nurse has an art director). The situation is also unique when the fashion imparted by the new boss is already going through two changes of governors and is turning into a real trend. For Russia, this is an important phenomenon: even the most good undertakings usually turn out to be the effect of a “new broom” and hold on only until the budget money runs out, but still not longer than their initiator sits in his chair.
But I am not a theater critic and, frankly, I do not understand. My topic is IT, and in Perm I, because it was IT that was the new governor of the Perm region, Maxim Reshetnikov (appointed in 2017), chose as a hashtag, under which, apparently, he wants to remain in the history of his small homeland.
The event, officially titled “Strategic Session” The Concept for the Development of the Digital Economy of the Perm Region ”, last Friday brought together various Moscow experts, Reshetnikov himself, representatives of the Perm IT sector, as well as local bureaucracy as spectators in the hall. The first part of the working day consisted of a series of speeches with general discussions about where Perm has a chance to take a place in global IT and expert stories about their own successful cases on automation and AI-tion.
In the second part of the day, everyone gathered gathered from a large hall in five classrooms to work in groups “Strategy and creation of conditions for digital transformation of the region”, “Digital transformation of production”, “Personnel for digital transformation”, “Digital transformation of public administration” and “Smart city” ". Local officials and IT entrepreneurs, together with invited experts as moderators, were supposed to brainstorm a list of problems and hoteles during the brainstorming process and transform them into a list of tasks that would later be announced again from the big stage in the final part of the day.
The names of the groups show directions that they decided to pull out at the expense of “digitalization” when everything else did not work : housing and public utilities, public transport, industry, education and the work of the state as such.
The typical problem of good undertakings, when the energy for transformation goes into creating plans for these same transformations, and ending with them, Reshetnikov decided to eliminate this: “ But there will be no plans ”. They say that we will write down the conclusions of the working groups, but we will not formalize them - we will simply gather in such a format once a quarter, almost informally checking clocks and adding new notepads with new ideas, solutions and suggestions. However, everything looked more than formal, but the technique was clear and even witty: leave the gestalt unclosed instead of the usual feeling of completeness after planning the task. Cool - yes, but the real value of what is happening will show only the result.
The promise to restore order on the roads and in the social sphere is part of the mandatory program of each “strong business executive”, starting, probably, with the heads of village councils. And with each new business executive come new promises.
The Perm Initiative is an example, as historians say, of “modernization from above”. And therefore, listening to the first performances from the stage, I decided to start my acquaintance with her from the very top. In fact, no one promised me an interview with Governor Reshetnikov, but there was something to ask him. The organizers supported the idea of ​​habrainterview, but his fate was hanging by a thread to the last. The reason for this - the employment of the governor. Spontaneity and public administration are generally poorly combined. As I was later told, to arrange an interview with an official of this level in less than a few days is unrealistic. But it turned out the same.
What is your motivation as a governor in the development of the digital economy of Perm - is this personal ambition, is it dictated politically or otherwise motivated by any means?
Many innovations require major changes in the laws. For example, self-driving cars. In the US, some states have already adopted amendments to allow robots to drive on roads without the presence of a driver. Is this possible in Russia at the regional level or is it a federal question?
Which areas of the digital economy are easiest to implement without changing laws at the federal level, changing laws at the regional level?
Why can Permiaks expect that all the steam will not go off the whistle and all the work on modernization will not end only on drawing up plans for this modernization itself?
Exactly about this we managed to talk - albeit at the cost of a difficult ignore of the press secretary Reshetnikov, who in the last minutes of the interview signaled behind the scenes the elapsed time and her eyes demanding that she return her governor.
- Hi, Habr, my name is Egor Kotkin.Now I am in Perm, where local officials headed by the governor and Moscow experts gathered to resolve the issue of the digital economy development - how and why it should be done.Today I have the opportunity to talk with the frontman of this process - the governor of the region, Maxim Reshetnikov, who will answer several questions specifically for Habrahabr.
This is my first time in Perm, but I got the impression that everyone is nodding at you as the initiator of this process.Therefore, my question will be about your motivation: is it for you connected with personal ambitions or with the implementation of a political plan?Do you want to stand out among the governors, to fulfill the instructions of the president or something else ?
- Well, firstly, not only officials and experts gathered here. Very different people gathered here. These are mainly business representatives: those who introduce digital technologies and carry out digital transformation, and those who produce solutions and products for this. Also here are representatives of the fields of education and science. So we tried to gather all the participants of the process. Officials are also present, but first of all here are representatives of enterprises and organizations that are leading the digital transformation process and providing services, including in the health care system. We also introduce the same innovations and we have the same problems as large industrial enterprises: how to change business processes, how to change organizational areas, where to take people, what and how to teach them. We are talking about large scale when we talk about the digitalization of health care, because every medical assistant and obstetric center in each village must be connected to the Internet, and four-way, to train medical assistants, install computers, provide the appropriate software. But the main thing - you have to change all business processes. Suppose a car arrives every two weeks, picks up a biomaterial, takes it to the laboratory. In the laboratory, analyzes are done, and the next morning the paramedic can see their results. This is now being implemented.
- You said that the officials here are listening and studying more, is that so?
- Yes. Officials in this case are the same participants in the discussion, they are no worse and no better than the rest. There are good companies that actively introduce [innovations], so there are those who have not come to this yet. And the officials are exactly the same. We have departments where the process of digital transformation is in full swing, but there are those who are behind for various reasons. Our task is to maximize the involvement of processes within the state administration, enterprises, municipalities, public utilities, and so on. Regarding personal motivation, I can say that from my point of view, there is a great chance for Prikamye as a whole to change. We have accumulated competence, and in order to further support companies and develop the digital economy, we must accept innovations ourselves.
- Where exactly did the window of opportunity open ?
- You know, probably, it has been accumulated historically, that is, we have a lot of companies that offer and implement new technologies. We have the second largest broadband Internet access operator in the country, now privately owned - Rostelecom. Our Promobot is now at the peak of service robotization. We have powerful universities and a very powerful bunch of business, education and science.
- So you think that you have already accumulated sufficient quantitative changes, and now you want to translate them into quality?
- Yes.
- And how will you do it at the legislative level?Indeed, many innovations require a change of laws.Let me give you a fresh example: literally the other day I read that in America a number of states allowed robots to ride on roads without a man behind the wheel and generally a man in the cabin.They have such moments are solved at the state level.What do you plan to do with such innovations, which can be implemented at the regional level and which will require intervention in federal legislation ?
- I think that the legislation, probably, is a certain limiter, that is, it sets a certain ceiling, but we have not yet achieved it in very many areas, so it’s incorrect to say now that legislation prevents digital transformation.
- Let's talk about directions that are free.What areas are open to you at the regional level so that you can carry out reforms?Can you run the same self-driving cars in the Perm region without coordination ?
- And if we have a need for self-driving cars?
- Well, for example, in terms of road safety.
- You see, any technology should be in demand. Everything will take place naturally, if it is economically feasible. Now we have other tasks. Consider a specific example. If we talk about passenger transport, we need to change the route distribution model. We are discussing the introduction of the so-called “Moscow model”: the city, the municipalities themselves order transport work, respectively, imposing requirements on the quality of rolling stock, introducing a unified ticket policy, developing a unified accounting system, and so on. So let's build this structure, understand how much we actually have one hour of transport work, and then we will relate the economic indicators.
- This is with regard to public transport.I am interested in a specific, very popular innovation - machines-robots.Will they be able to drive around the Perm region, is it in your power to make the region earn the first, say, Yandex-taxi without a driver ?
- First, of course, this is not at the mercy of the region - and you know this perfectly well, this is the prerogative of federal legislation. Is there an economic proposal: calculate how much a taxi service without a driver now costs and how much with a driver? Is there a specific offer?
- The economic benefits there are huge, in fact.Taxi will be much cheaper, increase traffic safety.
- The key word here will be.
- But Yandex is already testing these robots.The British do it, the Americans.
- So it is beautiful. There will be a service - we will, of course, introduce actively. There are two aspects here. The first is the introduction of technology. Of course, we must be champions in this field. Another moment is the production of technologies, when our Perm enterprises can offer a unique product. Of course, we are trying to combine these two aspects and we urge companies to take on the Perm partners, to open here competence centers.
- What directions can you develop without restrictions from the federal legislation?Which of them can you call priority ?
- The whole digital transformation within the state administration, issues related to smart cities - there are practically no restrictions, or rather, everything depends on us.
- Maintain and control traffic, compliance with speed limits, dimensional control. All this we understand perfectly.
- Well, in general, things are municipal level.
- So, in fact, we must understand that since the digital economy and digital transformation affect specific processes, we go to where these processes and this specifics are present. That is what a person faces every day.
- And education, health care are included in this?
- This also applies to state administration. When we talk about the digital transformation of public administration, we do not mean issuing certificates, we mean all areas.
- I’m already signaled that time is running out for us, so I’ll ask the main question, which I can’t help asking.How can you be sure that this entire initiative will not end up leaving the entire steam as soon as you complete the plan, as is usually the case with government initiatives?What grounds for such confidence can you give to Perm citizens ?
- Firstly, we do not make a plan, because it is really, probably, not a very good sign. We do not even approve this concept. This is a living document in which we will constantly make changes. We will discuss all the time where we have moved, and where not. Our plans are concrete projects. We launched a pilot project on smart lighting, two sites in a smart city, launched a big transformation in healthcare that people already see: an electronic record to the doctor works, people see how the doctor conducts work, everything is documented in electronic maps.
- What will move these projects, if not to take into account the factor of your personal involvement?Will the governor change, or will your priorities change, how will the projects continue?
- Where we introduce digital technology, it will be impossible to go back. And forward projects will move the general understanding of all participants in the process, in which direction to move.
- When will this point of no return be passed?When will the implementation of the first project, which you can not deploy?
- In the health care system, this is already underway. Everywhere electronic medical records; we still do not like everything there, as well as the doctors themselves, so we are not resting on our laurels. The public procurement system has also been implemented. The portal “We manage together” [the portal of the government of the Perm Territory] is already working.