Deputy Minister of Education and Science Denis Solodovnikov: Do unclaimed digital platforms, means - to lose the market

Denis Solodovnikov: The meeting was joint – we invited members of council on digital development of education and members of expert advice according to the Education national project who gather at the Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. Some people participate both in that, and in another councils. According to the solution of the minister we carried out joint council in view of the fact that, first, there were many intersections on the discussed subjects, secondly, on some questions there were polar opinions. It was necessary to remove stress.

The purpose of council for digital development is an expert and public discussion of plans of creation of digital educational platforms. The subject of education cannot unofficially develop, and decisions on digital platforms cannot be made only by me. It would be strange not to consider opinions of rectors and vice rectors of the largest Russian universities, representatives of the Russian IT companies which are included into council - "1C", Mail.ru, "Yandex" and others. Many of these organizations left far forward in creation of modern digital educational products. But this my position causes a certain irritation in some colleagues.

Denis Solodovnikov: This approach is based on openness and the competition. And someone would like to narrow a circle of participating. Therefore there is certain tension. But I cannot but consider opinion of community. The speech even not about architecture, not about a technology part, the speech that education is dynamically emerging market which takes very important part of the population – a young, modern part of the population. And to do for them that it is not useful to them and it is not required, it means - to lose the market and to give the chance to foreign educational Coursera products stronger, than now, to influence it.

It is possible? Yes, it is possible. Can make the state so that for some it is worse to create conditions, and for others it is better? Of course, can the clumsy steps. Can ruin the successful earlier created educational products? Of course. Will set requirements to them and to integration such that will ruin everything that was earlier. Or will not allow to develop properly, monopolizes the market. Can? Why is not present? We nicely are able to do such things. And whether it is necessary to do it? Probably, no.

Perhaps, the state should concentrate on this market and to monopolize it till 2012 when it was invisible. But now situation absolutely another. Pretend that there is no activity which conducts HSE or NTI with Dmitry Peskov on the University-2035 that there are no educational platforms in MSU, in other universities – it would be strange. Therefore these people at us in council, and we discuss our plans with them.

Denis Solodovnikov: We create two digital educational platforms. The first - the integration platform of life-long education, the second - modern digital educational medium. They should be created in the status of the state information systems. The relevant requirements connected with personal data protection, including since we will do service of a digital portfolio of the student will be imposed to them, to trace a digital trace, all educational trajectory of students.

The important task at the current stage is an integration taking into account the existing regional platforms and a possibility of providing on our platform of the general basic services.

Formally, these platforms are created according to two different national projects, but, in fact, I want that they were under construction according to the uniform requirements and standards corresponding to our normative regulation. Both systems will need to pass the architectural commission and the corresponding examination of Mintsifra, to receive approval of presidium of the government commission. I would not want that what we do, dropped out from uniform architectural technology space.

Besides, when we discuss these platforms with colleagues, we understand that there is no big difference from the technology and architectural point of view between them. There are different problems which they solve. But to solve two problems in one industry, two certain digital platforms are not necessary.

Denis Solodovnikov: The modern digital educational medium, first of all, is intended for implementation of the academic educational programs of universities. Universities will be able to order and pay training in the students in other universities and the organizations for high-quality ensuring preparation. So online courses which are created in one organization can be available to students in another.

The integration platform of life-long education is the same functionality directed to receiving additional education. But not only universities give additional education. It can be any organizations having the corresponding license.

Denis Solodovnikov: Yes. It is still impossible to get an education in a digital form completely and, probably, it is not necessary. But in some part of objects, by some part of specialties, we will be able to provide educational process in digital, completely remote mode. For example, when training lawyers, economists, programmers.

Denis Solodovnikov: Of course, there are virtual laboratories, but it more likely as additional service. And there are, for example, creative specialties where distance learning is impossible and it is not necessary where there is always a need of participation in educational process of the person. Therefore the mixed types of training or completely remote mode will be in educational programs only for some specialties.

By means of the digital platform which we will create universities will get access to unified academic environment and will have to spread the rates there or integrate the educational platforms. We are going to tighten in a uniform ecosystem of Openedu.ru, Lektorium, UNIWEB, platforms of Higher School of Economics, a RANEPA, MSU. We will have to integrate all.

Denis Solodovnikov: Yes, this regulyatorika which we develop. An opportunity to make payments and to pass the corresponding tests of payments between universities taking into account that everywhere different cost, will be surely provided. All this will become only on the platform.

Denis Solodovnikov: We think of it, but now we cannot make it.

Denis Solodovnikov: Certainly. The current situation had an objective reason. National projects were written in 2016-2017. It were absolutely different groups of people. Some wrote "Digital economy", the second wrote Education. And, perhaps, interaction was not built up to the end up.

Denis Solodovnikov: Yes. And now the curator appeared, and as the specialist, I see that some solutions can be optimized also in terms of public administration, and in terms of expenses on them, and in terms of uniform command center, and in terms of uniform architecture. It lies on a surface, all this is seen, everything is understood. But we are in a bureaucratic framework, and not to get under responsibility for violation of terms of actions of national projects, we should undergo certain procedures, one of which – that council, and further - Mintsifra with their Competence Centers and two Deputy Prime Ministers: Maxim Alekseyevich Akimov and Tatyana Alekseevna Golikova. This work with us is conducted.

Denis Solodovnikov: Disputes were about what is not enough in technical specifications for development of these platforms, in requirements to the tender documentation. They were rather constructive. Colleagues suggested to complement the technical specifications developed by us with the offers from which we considered the most part.

Denis Solodovnikov: In August competitions of grants as it was provided by national projects were announced. We had to select developers of two digital platforms and a digital profile of the student. However, in the middle of August the joint meeting of two ministers – the minister of digital development Konstantin Yuryevich Noskov and the minister of science and the higher education Mikhail Mikhaylovich Kotyukov was held. Also tough decision was made – to concentrate efforts on joint design of digital educational platforms. So that to define uniform architectural space of the existing and created solutions, to develop the concept and the road map of development. Tasks of development are decided to be carried out after design, namely in 2020. Also we hope that development will be executed in the mode, usual and clear for all, according to 44-FZ.

This solution was given us not simply since for advance we had to note the announced competitions of grants. Now we quickly make changes to the corresponding government decrees defining rules of providing grants. Again it is going to announce competitions taking into account the made decisions in November, 2019.

Denis Solodovnikov: The integration platform of life-long education – 180 million, Digital educational medium – 107 million. But taking into account that in 2019 it is decided to be engaged only in design, without development of a prototype, these amounts will be corrected.

Denis Solodovnikov: The next stage is a development and putting into operation of an industrial state information system. Based on design which will take place in 2019 I think, we will come to the solution on a single platform of education which we will create.

Besides, studying opportunities and perspectives of development of digital platforms of the higher education and also according to the results of the Island 10-22, we defined for ourselves an important task – transfer to an electronic form of the record book, the student ID card and transition to the electronic document on the higher education. We paid to this question noticeable attention and at the beginning of September held the regular meeting of council for digital development. This discussion attracted great interest of the largest Russian universities and representatives of the Russian IT companies which are included into council. Nobody remained indifferent. We are going to decide to the next meeting of council on necessary changes in regulations to give green light to our universities actively and bravely to use electronic record books and electronic student ID cards.

Denis Solodovnikov: We discuss both our platform, and their solutions with the deputy minister of education of Marina Rakovoy. But the general education and the higher education is after all absolutely different areas. There is more regulation and much less freedom therefore creation of educational products goes by absolutely different principle.

Denis Solodovnikov: We create the digital platform of infrastructure management of the centers of collective use of unique scientific installations (EXPERT USNIKP). In particular, we should create virtual services and virtual laboratories for remote use of scientific installations which will be available to all scientists registered on the platform. Some services are already implemented for today. We should consider what is made and to give access to scientific infrastructure to all to whom it is required.

It is very similar to what we do regarding education. Functionality approximately the same. But still services were often made under each specific center of collective use (CCU). We will place all range of services within a single digital platform. Scientists will be able to use including results of the researches received to them. Digitization of reports and examination of reports which are done by RAS and other state institutes which conduct scientific activity, through NIRY too, for example will be made. All these results we want to integrate and give access to them on a single platform. Virtual services will help to use them.

For example, if business wants to conduct some research, it will rise before the choice – or to create new group, or to look that was made on this subject earlier. If researches on this subject were conducted, but results were not received, there will be a question - why threw? Perhaps, there was not enough financing? Or the relevance disappeared? But people who researched have experience. It would be strange not to consider it and not to use the results of work received earlier not to duplicate these expenses.

Denis Solodovnikov: It will be completely barrier-free access, but taking into account the certain restrictions connected with privacy.

Denis Solodovnikov: Design in 2019. In this case it is not a grant, it is a target subsidy. But the contractor was also selected at tender by a large amount of criteria which were approved on council for digital development. Selection was among the organizations which are engaged in writing of software, and criteria concerned non-budgetary sources of income, the number of regular programmers, etc. Five participants - the leading institutes which are TsKP moved. In fair and competitive struggle by the number of points won against Institute of system programming of RAS of V.P. Ivannikov.

Denis Solodovnikov: Therefore won, it objectively.

Denis Solodovnikov: Virtual software laboratories. They cooperate with the same Kurchatov Institute, with MSU, using these services, write for them software, provide machines.

Denis Solodovnikov: 500 million rubles are selected for creation of the TsKP platform together with infrastructure.

Denis Solodovnikov: Yes. They will create stands for two platforms actually. The digital platform of joint surveys is they too. For us it is very convenient – to deal with one operator, but not with ten different.

Denis Solodovnikov: 75 million rubles. And still there will be an integration bus between them.

Denis Solodovnikov: Here still competition is not announced.

Denis Solodovnikov: I perceive emergence of such messages as confirmation of the movement in the right direction. My arrival broke the developed balance when different groups applied for authorship of some actions in national projects and on the accessibility to financing. I did not begin to use any heritage. Also arranged public discussion, having asked to take in it part of experts at the highest level. I had a task to open this work and to try not simply to perform the logic put there, and to change it, and to make this work as the most useful and necessary. We already have a set of any different educational platforms and information systems connected with statistics and monitoring of scientific activity. The main indicator is a demand of these information systems, their necessity and need. In my opinion, what was created earlier, or has local demand, or tasks which were set were not correctly described and correctly structured.