On the 29 th of April, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized an online seminar to discuss the “Smart City” concept and the "online future after the pandemic”.
The speakers and participants of the event proceeded from the premise that not only business representatives, but also the Moscow authorities are interested in modern IT solutions. This is especially important from the standpoint of the “Smart City” concept. The technology of the city’s environment and its security require new and unique solutions, and they, in turn, can be implemented by new companies.
"We tried to invite our colleagues, who create all these technologies and products and are using them today," Mr. Suren Vardanyan, the Vice President of the MCCI, explained in his opening speech. Then he offered the floor to Mr. Anatoly Golovatov, the Executive Director of the Russian-Austrian Business Council, who reminded that the concept of the "Smart City" has been repeatedly discussed at the meetings of the Russian-Austrian Business Council, where participants noted "the necessity of mutually acceptable instruments for the utilization of this important project. The key issues are the digitalization of the economy, "Smart" infrastructure and, of course, the use of IT technologies. And naturally, of course, human resources are necessary to make the concept work.
The Chairman of the Guild of Digital Economy and Blockchain Technology at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Eugene Kontsevich, said: "The main problem, which became apparent during the crisis, is the fact that most businesses were not up to speed, even in part, as far as digital technology. That is, many enterprises did not have an opportunity to transfer at least a part of their business online. And those, who have managed to do so, are surviving this period and gradually are moving some of their services, products and offers to online platforms.” Hence, the task of the digital market is to create digital platforms for different aspects of business.
Mr. Kontsevich reminded that there are commercial companies, which "have a percentage of online business of about 5%. That is, no technology is used, except for mail and WhatsApp. Most of these companies just stalled during the crisis. And these are large organizations, which can neither manage, run an office or a production process, nor can they create a product remotely.” Mr. Kontsevich said that IT-companies are ready to intensify the demand for business software that simulates hardware functionality in order to create a virtual system.
Mr. Daniil Volovikov, the Chairman of the Representative Office of the Youth Financial League, spoke about the economic effects of the introduction of IoT (Internet of Things) technologies in the urban environment.
The head of the ATF Media group of companies, Mr. Edgar Grigoryan, spoke about the "Region Control" program. It is a tool for organizing the work of the agencies of executive authorities, a system for managing all business processes, all activities of employees and administration. He also presented a platform for feedback from the population, "Our Region".
Генеральный директор ООО «Юнистат» Олег Евсеенков рассказал об управлении жизненным циклом оборудования в городском хозяйстве.
The General Director of “Unistat" LLC, Mr. Oleg Evseenkov, described the life cycle management of equipment in municipal economy.
The Deputy of the General Director of LLC “Milur”, Mr. Rashit Hafisov, made a presentation “IoT (Internet of Things) for a smart home, based on integrated circuits and metering devices of Russian design and manufacture.” "We work with devices that transform a simple thing into a 'smart thing,” Mr. Hafisov said.
Mr. Andrei Cherney, the Attaché for Science and Technology of the Embassy of Austria in the Russian Federation, shared the concept that Vienna adopted for itself back in 2014, when it adopted a digitalization program of the city, the so-called "digital agenda". The purpose of this program is to indicate which projects and activities in the field of information and communication technologies are important for the city and its residents for a systematic digital development. After all, the development of digitalisation of the city implies not only advantages, but also certain challenges for both the authorities and the population. We are not talking about technological challenges, but about possible invasion into the private sphere and user data protection.
This "digital agenda" must be constantly changed and complemented with the assistance of society, urban authorities, business and science. Mr. Andrei Cherney also spoke about eight guidelines for the digitalization of Vienna for "action by all involved parties" to create an environment and conditions for the development of the Internet of Things.
Mr. Vardanyan proposed to the Chairman of the Guild of Digital Economy and Blockchain Technologies at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Yevgeny Kontsevich, to conduct a survey among the members of the Chamber to learn what they expect from the digitalization of the city. "In my opinion, it would be a good step for the Guild, to conduct such a study on the basis of the MCCI. It would be advantageous from the commercial point of view as well - this is a serious marketing strategy, which could produce innovating developments!” - surmized the Vice President.
Mr. Steffen Sendler, the CEO of Sendler & Company, spoke, in turn, about the implementation of the IoT technologies in the urban environment in Germany. Mr. Andrey Ogirenko, the General Director of Golutvinskaya Sloboda, OJSC, briefly talked about how he is trying to introduce new technologies in the projects he is engaged in.