Krasnodar, 26 January. Our today’s interviewee is Sergei Grabsky, Chairman of the Kuban Association of Digital Development.
Q.: What working conditions do IT specialists need not to leave the country?
A.: First of all, certain perks are needed – like deferment from the mobilisation, because so far what IT specialists have is just a word uttered by the Russian Ministers of Digital Development and Defence. Not everyone is calmed with it, and a special law should be adopted. Then – providing them with maximum possible comfortable working conditions. I think that we should have our own Skolkovo here, in Krasnodar Krai; our region should attract IT specialists; it is an important development point for the Kuban economy.
Q.: How can the IT cluster project be implemented in the Kuban region?
A.: It should be a federal project implemented in the Kuban region. Our region should compete for IT specialists on behalf of the nation with the entire world. And this project should be backed at the highest level. IT professionals can afford best locations and best conditions – our region has the former by default, but we must work hard to achieve the latter.The regional authority must support local universities which should build up the scholarly basis for the future IT cluster. We do have universities that are really strong in the IT sphere – the Kuban State Technological University, the Kuban State University, the Kuban State Agrarian University, and Shtemenko Military Academy – but they all need to develop.
Q.: In your opinion, who should invest money in such project?
A.: It should be a trilateral collaboration. The federal budget must assume the main load; the region should provide the land and the communications. Private investors should also add their money to the governmental funding. The projects implemented without the involvement of the business sector always prove inefficient, because it is entrepreneurs who understand the market best of all and who know how to derive a benefit rather than simply fulfil a plan.
