PRESS: Govt splits digital econ program management into 2 bodies

MOSCOW, Aug 30 (PRIME) -- The government analytical center will act as a project office, while a  non-commercial organization ANO Digital Economy will create working groups and competence centers and cooperate with business while creating digital economy in Russia, business daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday quoting a government ruling as saying.

The Economic Development Ministry will be in charge of legal regulation, staff and educational policy, and the Communications and Mass Media Ministry will shape research competences and technological developments, information infrastructure and security.

ANO Digital Economy will be established until the end of September by large companies, including Internet giants Yandex, Mail.Ru Group, Rambler & Co, as well as state-controlled telecom operator Rostelecom and major bank Sberbank.

The organization will work with businesses and the scientific community, render information support to technological startups and small companies, forecast development of digital technologies, among others.

Since the program is financed from at least two sources – the budget and state development bank Vnesheconombank – the economic and communications ministries will directly influence decision making.

Head of the board of directors of the Institute of the Information Society Yury Khokhlov said “the creation of the two-headed management hydra” made the management system of the digital economy program too complicated. Each of the units will form its own expert group of support, and the implementation of the program could be under threat due to “expert wars”, he said.

A spokesperson for the analytical center said that its tasks and functions and those of the organization are clearly stipulated and strictly separated.

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