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2019/10/11 12:32:29

The new Chief information officer of the Ministry of Education and Science Anthony Shvindt - about digitalization of the industry and management of it on the basis of data

In September, 2019 in the Ministry of Education and Science the new head of department of information technologiesAnthony Shvindt was appointed. Soon after the appointment in an interview of TAdviser at the EdCrunch conference he told that he expects to change in approaches to digitalization of the higher education and science and what new technologies and services will appear in the industry in the nearest future.

Anthony
of Shvindt
Model of effective "digital" department means transition to decision making on the basis of analytics of data in real time.

Anthony Nikolaevich, in September you were appointed the acting as the director of the department of IT in the field of science and the higher education of the Russian Federation. What enters your tasks, what your powers?

Anthony Shvindt: Now the department is faced by major problems and projects. Conditionally they can be separated into three large tracks. The first track is a high-quality development of a back office of the ministry. Here it is possible to carry electronic document management systems, interdepartmental interaction, telephony, the Internet, interdepartmental information systems and other basic tools. Respectively the first of tasks is an informatization and digital transformation of the department.

The second track is connected with digital transformation of branches of science and the higher education. The key idea – to define and create digital solutions in the field of science and education which will open new opportunities for students, teachers, scientific and all categories of the citizens having a request for professional development. Also in this track should be defined, including regulatory, clear rules of functioning and development of information systems, digital platforms and services for the educational and scientific organizations.

The third track is the management based on data which is implemented on a joint of the first two tracks. We have a list of vital information systems which help to make management decisions and to perform the general coordination of all industry which require permanent updating. It is very important part as the ministry makes decisions, being based, including, on data. For this purpose it is necessary to understand what data and in what systems collect as to verify them as far as they reliable and relevant. From quality of data and work of information systems where they gather and processed, also the quality of solutions directly depends.

What innovations with the arrival you are going to introduce in the ministry concerning approaches to digitalization, to management? What would you like to change?

Anthony Shvindt: First of all, there is a wish to review the current architecture of work with data which fairly lags behind world trends and trends. The functionality and quality of systems which were developed at the beginning of the 2010th years do not meet modern requests and the requirements any more. We already began to create new approaches to upgrade of the operating information systems and rules of data exchange between them.

Also there is a wish to build up up to the end basic processes in our department. For this purpose we should complete setup of the departmental systems, to update the website Ministry of Education and Science Russia, to make it more functional and convenient for citizens.

I cannot but notice that digital transformation should not be imposed "on top". If we want to achieve a positive effect in the industry, then it is important to establish cooperation with expert community and all interested actors and to receive a continuous feedback. In my opinion, earlier it became insufficiently actively. Today at many universities, the scientific organizations there are own developments, technological solutions and approaches to digitalization, all of them should be considered. The long-term task I see building of permanent contact of the ministry with our subordinated organizations to support and replicate the best projects and technologies.

Some steps towards to interaction with expert community were already taken, including with experts from business. The Ministry of Education and Science included in the council for digital development created this year, representatives of the IT companies, such as 1C, Mail.ru, "Yandex" and others.

Anthony Shvindt: Really in the current year such structure as Council for digital development and information technologies of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation was created. A large number of experts takes part in activity of Council. At the same time it is noticeable that discussions in Council often have formal character. To all fault – the high speed of approval and decision making on the questions which are taken out on Council. Occasionally from experts it is required to approve the solution in 1-2 days while the questions posed require careful and long study.

Having changed the current paradigm of work of Council we could receive body which systematically extends and provides permanent interaction with expert community, universities and business, being the debugged mechanism of exchange of positions, offers and the ideas.

At the current stage we support systematic expansion of expert structure of Council and also formation of the theme working groups in which the ideas and offers of expert community, the scientific and educational organizations with the subsequent removal at the decision of Council will gather and be studied.

You mentioned use of data for acceptance of management decisions in the ministry and upgrade of the related systems. For what sort of solutions it is the most relevant?

Anthony Shvindt: The common problem of information systems is that data in them not complete not qualitative and not harmonized. There are no uniform requirements to data, their identifiers. While there is no uniform architecture of data management, we cannot provide an exception of their duplication and permanent updating of data. It has an adverse effect on efficiency of interdepartmental interaction in the course of adoption of the state solutions, and, above all – increases load of employees of the universities and the scientific organizations forced to provide constantly the same information in different formats on different questions.

The model of effective "digital" department means transition to decision making on the basis of analytics of data in real time. For example, it is very important to use the advancing "smart" model at decision making about distribution of funds between the universities for these or those directions of research activity. It is relevant also for automatic indication of results and efficiency of expenditure of the available resources. To it we should come in the near future.

Such approach is fair also for model of entering a university therefore it is important to create the service, convenient for entrants, providing both the choice of university, and process of receipt in it. Next year in the ministry in the pilot mode one of 25 planned superservices within the national program "Digital Economy of Russia" – "Entering a higher education institution online" starts. He will allow to select university and to file documents to it remotely from any point of the country, saving the entrant from need somewhere to go or send documents by mail.

This superservice is worked already out. Its concept was approved in August by presidium of the Government commission on digital development, use of information technologies for improvement of quality of life and conditions of conducting business activity under the leadership of the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Maxim Alekseyevich Akimov. In 2020 the pilot project will cover over 50 universities of the country.

For implementation of this superservice it is also necessary to upgrade "FIS SFE and acceptance" where all data on results of a Unified State Examination which are used at entering a higher education institution are stored. This information system does not meet the necessary requirements therefore we already agreed with Rosobrnadzor about its completion and development.

Who the contractor on this pilot project?

Anthony Shvindt: Active part in this project is taken by PJSC Rostelecom, and head department is the Ministry of digital development, communication and mass communications of the Russian Federation as it is responsible for all 25 superservices.

I gave only a few examples. In the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation there are a lot of systems where collect this, necessary for effective management educational and scientific the organizations.

Until recently as "whales" of digitalization of the higher education creation of two key platforms was considered: integration platform of life-long education and digital educational medium. Even competitions of grants on their creation were announced, but cancelled them. These projects prior to creation decided to work out the ministry of digital development and Ministry of Education and Science in more detail. What future of these platforms? In what stage completion is?

Anthony Shvindt: Yes, in August there was a meeting of two ministers - the Minister of digital development, communication and mass communications Konstantin Yuryevich Noskov and the Minister of science and the higher education Mikhail Mikhaylovich Kotyukov who made the joint decision that this year it is necessary to make the correct design of these platforms and to come to deeper understanding as they will be joined with each other.

We are going to begin creation of the integration platform of life-long education in 2020. And as for digital educational medium, this platform was created in 2017, it is improved now and next year its transfer to the status of the state information system is planned.

At the same time in 2019 as one of its subsystems already there has to be a solution allowing to create individual portfolios of students that is one of the keyword parameters of the national Education project approved by the President of the Russian Federation.

Integration of individual portfolios with other systems which will transfer and obtain information on achievements of the student is supposed. Once you note that a portfolio not so informatively, a professional profile which can be made on its base. And clear professional profile of the person will be useful not only to users, but also employers as in addition to the diploma they will have much more information on potential and new employees.

Aggregation of data on pupils will significantly simplify process of selection and personnel development and also will allow to create, for example, more precisely understanding what additional competences the new employee, proceeding from his individual profile needs.

On what conditions will employers get access to individual portfolios?

Anthony Shvindt: This issue is now handled. This subject along with architecture of a profile, I think, in November we will take out for consideration at a meeting of Council for digital development and information technologies which we already mentioned. Already now employers have many different systems and one of the ideas – to connect an individual portfolio with recruiting resources, such as HeadHunter, Superjob, with the portal of Rostrud "Work in Russia" and others.

Our task – to create architecture which could be joined to different resources. In my opinion, creation of big mega-platforms which everything enters - is inexpedient today when there is a set of solutions at the microlevel. Knowing where what data are collected, it is better to develop architecture at which different services can be integrated with each other.

Who is engaged in study of architecture of individual portfolios? Whether competitions on these works were held already?

Anthony Shvindt: At the moment the architecture is studied at the level of the ministry, tenders were not yet.

Design of two platforms will be performed by forces of the ministries too, or you are going to involve contractors?

Anthony Shvindt: This issue now too is discussed. I think, competition on design will be announced.

What amount of financing will be demanded by creation of platforms?

Anthony Shvindt: As the federal law on the budget on 2020 and planning period of 2021 and 2022 is not approved yet and is still discussed, it is very difficult to give an assessment. Now there is a study of a question of transfer of a part of means for 2020. I think that after the second reading of the budget it will be possible to speak about it in more detail.

In what form will financing be performed?

Anthony Shvindt: When we speak about information systems, it is necessary to understand accurately that there are documents of the government which regulate creation of the state information systems. They are created on the 242nd expense type that directly means holding competitive procedures within 44-FZ. And when we say that we want to support any solutions of universities, it is better to do it by tender of grants and subsidies.

Actually, it is one of the reasons for which tenders were cancelled, and works on platforms were postponed. When, for example, the university creates a system at the expense of means of a subsidy, it belongs to university, it is the owner, and the state cannot fully use this system. It including is connected also with questions of personal data protection. That such system belonged to the state, the university should transfer it to it somehow. All this causes the necessity in supplementary procedures and complicates a situation. If creation of a system is provided by the plan of informatization, in our case the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, then the rights to it initially belong to the state on behalf of the ministry.

In this regard we are going to provide achievement of results on development of platforms within national projects according to normative fixed stages of creation of the state information systems.

In addition to the integration platform of life-long education and digital educational medium there are two more big directions in which in 2020 we are going to hold competitions. They concern science: it is the digital platform of joint surveys and the automated control system for services of scientific infrastructure of collective use.

Your ministry conducts works on digitalization of the higher education and science in close interaction with the Ministry of digital development. How do you estimate efficiency of this interaction? What would you, perhaps, like to improve?

Anthony Shvindt: Many colleagues from the Ministry of digital development are well familiar to me: before I worked at project office on implementation of the national program "Digital Economy of the Russian Federation". The project office actively participated at different stages of formation of the national program. Some colleagues from project office direct the directions of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation now. At us the good working contact is come with them.

Several times after my appointment we already met on the platform of presidium of the Government commission on digital development. Colleagues are ready to building of fruitful working relationship. All are interested in that our platforms actively developed as many results expected from implementation of the national program "Digital Economy of the Russian Federation" are integrated to results of our ministry.