The
IT sector plays an important role in Russian-U.S. services trade because most
high-tech equipment used in Russia
is imported. Growth is expected to continue due to a favorable economic
situation and high demand in the corporate and government sectors.
In the end of September 2004, the Russian
government approved “The Concept of the Use of Information Technologies in the
Activity of Government Agencies until the Year 2010,” which may become an
important demand driver for IT products in the government sector.
The
concept document was prepared by the Russian Ministry of IT and Communications
and approved by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on September 27, 2004.
For the next six years, it will become a key document for regulating IT
development processes in federal government bodies. The document describes the
main priorities of government policy in the sphere of IT use by government
entities. The main goals of the concept are to:
• improve
the efficiency of government management with the help of IT tools;
• establish
a single IT infrastructure and combine federal information systems and
resources of different federal agencies; and
• improve
electronic document exchange between federal agencies and the general
population.
According to the Ministry, the main engine and
source of financing to realize this project will be the Federal Program
“Electronic Russia 2002–2010,” ad-opted in 2001. According to the head of the
Federal IT Agency, Vladimir Matyukhin, in the fourth
quarter of 2004 the Ministry will prepare an updated version of “Electronic
Russia” in order to adjust its needs to the fulfillment of the new
concept.
IT
Minister Leonid Reiman has suggested that the
Electronic Russia budget for next year will be increased to $80 million.
However, the money for IT modification within the Russian government will be
taken not only from the federal budget, but also from the budgets of various
federal agencies. Overall, according to the IT Ministry, the federal agencies
currently spend about $0.8-1.5 billion on IT.
Although
federal expenditures for IT will not be centralized, the government is planning
to develop a procedure of centralized procurement of IT products for federal
agencies. According to Minister Reiman, it is more
efficient for the state to purchase products in volume in order to negotiate
the lowest possible price. The procedure of centralized government procurement
of IT products will be developed soon.
The Ministry expects that, in the medium-term,
the concept will help to:
• combine
the federal agencies’ information systems and resources;
• make these
resources accessible at the intergovernmental level; and
• improve
the legislative basis of the IT sector in Russia.
The
U.S. Commercial Service believes that the interest in IT in Russia runs
very high, and there is little doubt of the huge potential demand for PCs,
Internet access, and b2c e-commerce should the government support high-tech
development and incomes rise from current levels.
U.S. Commercial Service offices in Russia
offer U.S.
exporters a number of services aimed at generating export sales, including
identifying distributors and arranging meetings with prospective buyers during
business visits to Russia.
For more information, contact Irina at
Tel.: 7
(095) 737-5022.
Email:
irina.lakaeva@mail.doc.gov
Web: www.buyusa.gov/russia/en
