Russoft Russoft

RUSSOFT is an association of software companies in Russia.

History

2023

Election of a new board of the association

On October 27, 2023, a new board of Russoft was approved. Valentin Makarov remained the president of the association, his powers were extended for two years.

11 members were elected to the board of Russoft for 2024:

• Maxim Bolotov, CEO of INOSTUDIO, President of the Brainhorn Association of Digital Solution Developers;
• Alexander Egorov, General Director of Reksoft;
• Roman Kletskikh, GR Director of Naumen;
• Sergey Lozhkin, co-founder, CEO of PIX Robotics;
• Olga Minaeva, GR-Director of SearchInform;
• Oleg Nishonov, Executive Vice President of NP "Consortium" Codex ";
• Dmitry Odintsov, Development Director of TrueConf;
• Vladimir Rubanov, Chief Technology Officer, Huawei R&D Russia;
• Maria Rukavishnikova, CEO of GetMobit;
• Alexey Smirnov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BASEALT;
• Dmitry Shushkin, founder of Metamodel-Group
• Oleg Nishonov was unanimously elected as chairman of the board of Russoft for 2024.

New Board of the Russoft Association

In his report presented at the end of October 2023, Russoft President Valentin Makarov noted that the company continues to grow actively: 57 new members joined the association over the year. According to Makarov, over the past year, important changes in geopolitics have taken place, the division of the world into friendly and unfriendly to Russia has intensified, and the integration movement of friendly countries within the BRICS + has increased. Friendly countries saw Russia as a "carrier of the gene" of technological sovereignty. During this period, intensive interaction was carried out with public authorities, development institutions, and strengthening work with other industry associations, the president of the association said at the end of October 2023.

More than 300 IT companies participating in Russoft

At the beginning of 2023, RUSSOFT unites more than 300 Russian IT companies.

9 committees

As of February 2023, RUSSOFT has 9 committees. In 2022, committees began their activities on GR (from the English government relations - "relations with the state"), Artificial Intelligence and Health (MedTech). They also continue their work on IT personnel, Digital Transformation, Information Security, Export, Smart City and PR.

2022

Creation of the Coordination Council of business associations for technological entrepreneurship of the Russian Federation

In 2022, APKIT, NP RUSSOFT and the Association of Fast-Growing Technology Companies National Champions decided to create the Coordination Council of Business Associations for Technological Entrepreneurship of the Russian Federation "Attracting Investments and Entering the Public Exchange Market."

The council was created in response to the challenges faced by the Russian IT industry in 2022.

Approval of the Management Board of the Russoft Association

On October 27, 2022, an annual general meeting of RUSSOFT members was held in Moscow. The results of the year of the Association's work were presented, the plans of activities and development for the next year were discussed, and the composition of the Management Board was elected.

Valentin Makarov, President of RUSSOFT, summed up the work of the Association over the past year. Despite the complexity of the RUSSOFT period, more than 70 new members joined the Association.

Among the plans of the Association for 2023: continued interaction with development public authorities institutions, with other industry associations; the development and strengthening of the work of the RUSSOFT committees for the benefit of IT-.industries

The event culminated in the election of members of the Board of the Association. Participants of the General Meeting (RUSSOFT executives) listened to brief presentations of 20 declared candidates and elected 13 new members of the RUSSOFT Management Board by voting.

The following persons were elected to the Management Board of RUSSOFT for the next 12 months:

• Maxim Bolotov, CEO of INOSTUDIO
• Oleg Vlasenko, Deputy CEO of SimbirSoft
• Alexander Egorov, General Director of Reksoft
• Roman Kletskikh, GR Director of NAUMEN
• Lev Matveev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SearchInform
• Valery Medvedev, GR-PR-director of Auriga
• Oleg Nishonov, Executive Vice President of NP Consortium "Codex""
• Vladimir Rubanov, Chief Technology Officer of HuaweiR & D in Russia
• Maria Rukavishnikova, CEO of GetMobit
• Alexey Smirnov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BASEALT
• Anton Filimonov, Acting Deputy for Development of iT & C Solutions
• Dmitry Shushkin, founder of Metamodel-Group
• Lev Yakupov, Marketing Director of TrueConf

The RUSSOFT Management Board also includes the President of the Association - Valentin Makarov.

Inclusion of GR activities in the Russian IT market in the TAdviser review

In April 2022, TAdviser released a detailed review of Government Relations (GR) practices in the Russian IT industry. It contains information on how GR functions are organized in IT companies, who have the strongest GRs in the market, examples of the most successful lobbying stories and much more. Based on a survey of GR specialists, RUSSOFT in the review was among the most significant industry associations when it comes to representing the interests of the industry in authorities. Read more here.

2021

Approval of the new composition of the board

At the end of November 2021, it became known about the new board of the Russoft non-profit partnership.

New Board of NP Russoft approved

It included:

• Maxim Bolotov, CEO of Inostudio;
• Aleksandr Egorov, founder and general director of Reksoft;
• Fedor Kirdyashov, Director of the Education Department of Astra Linux Group, Rector of Astra Academy;
• Vladimir Litoshenko, Senior Vice President, First Line Software;
• Lev Matveev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SearchInform;
• Valery Medvedev, PR-GR director of Auriga;
• Vladimir Rubanov, Chief Technical Officer for Development of POHuawei Russia;
• Maria Rukavishnikova, founder and CEO of Getmobit;
• Andrey Sviridenko, founder and chairman of the board of Spirit (Videomost);
• Alexey Smirnov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BASEALT;
• Andrey Terekhov, president of LANIT-terkom;
• President of NP Russoft Valentin Makarov remained a member of the board for the position.

According to Makarov, the board of Russoft includes companies representing different regions, different segments of the industry and having different technologies and business models. This is important, since they must represent the interests of the entire pyramid of the software development industry, he stressed.

Over the past few years, the number of Russoft members has grown from 175 to 250, and it is precisely this "horizontal communication" that helps to integrate new association companies into work as soon as possible - this is the most important plus of Russoft, "added the president of the non-profit partnership.

By October 2021, Russoft unites more than 250 IT companies with a staff of more than 70 thousand employees. NP represents the interests of all areas of the software development industry in Russia. Russoft has industry committees to achieve common strategic goals in digital transformation, export, personnel training, information security, smart city development, PR.

More than 240 companies participating in RUSSOFT

As of July 2021, the Partnership unites more than 240 IT companies with a staff of more than 70 thousand highly qualified employees. RUSSOFT represents the entire software development industry in Russia. The central office of the Partnership is located in St. Petersburg.

Cooperation Agreement with SIBB

In May 2021, RUSSOFT signed a cooperation agreement with the German Digital Business Association of Berlin-Brandeburg SIBB. The parties agreed to include RUSSOFT members in the line of German-Russian events.

Work on the initiative for the development of "regulatory sandboxes" in St. Petersburg

In 2021, RUSSOFT continues to work on an initiative to develop "regulatory sandboxes" in St. Petersburg. The goal is to accelerate the introduction of cyberphysical systems in Russia, and then promote Russian applications and infrastructure solutions abroad. The special mode will allow you to hone technologies faster than foreign competitors, which will give an advantage at the international level.

2020

Start of work of RUSSOFT committees

In 2020, RUSSOFT committees began to function, uniting the resources of high-tech business to achieve common strategic goals and form an ecosystem around the RUSSOFT community.

Participation of the President of RUSSOFT in the meeting on the development of ICT in Russia

On June 10, 2020, the President of the Russian Federation held a meeting on the development of information and communication technologies and communications, where Valentin Makarov, President of the RUSSOFT Association, spoke. The result was the adoption of packages of measures to support the IT industry.

Provision of special insurance conditions for members of the Russoft IT Association

On June 8, 2020, it became known that the VSK Insurance House began to cooperate with the RUSSOFT association.

RUSSOFT is an association of software companies in Russia, combining more than 160 IT companies with a staff of more than 65,000 highly qualified employees. Now members of the RUSSOFT association and members of the professional IT community can purchase insurance products and use the services of VSK on special conditions.

Professional support in the field of insurance is implemented both for IT companies - members of the association, and for individuals. VSK and RUSSOFT offer users a wide range of insurance products, including current products and services.

Program design is available on the association's website. Under the SMARTFIN partner code, discounts of up to 20% apply to all types of insurance for individuals. As part of the# SidimDom promotion, the discount will be 25% (the promotion is valid until June 7, 2020).

Interaction with the Government of the Russian Federation in order to make decisions on the continuous nature of IT production

At the beginning of the pandemic, RUSSOFT actively interacted with the Government of the Russian Federation to make urgent decisions on the continuous nature of IT production, obtaining permission to work remotely for employees of IT companies.

Develop IT Consortium Concepts for Platform Solutions

The Import Substitution Committee of the Russoft Association, with the support of the IIDF, is developing a concept for creating IT consortia in Russia to develop platform IT solutions for sectors of the economy. The association is going to present it to the Ministry of Communications. TAdviser was informed about this by the president of Russoft Valentin Makarov on March 26, 2020.

The poor organization of import substitution of software (software) in Russia, according to Valentin Makarov, is associated with the focus of measures taken by the state for the so-called "patchwork" substitution within the framework of those import platform solutions that dominate the market.

Only the same large domestic analogues can be opposed to imported platform solutions, in which all blocks are synchronized with each other and together represent a real value comparable to the value of an imported platform, "Valentin Makarov drew attention.

Russoft is going to present the concept of creating IT consortia of the Ministry of Communications in Russia.

Such platform solutions in Russia, in his opinion, could create IT consortia. Examples of their formation, according to him, appeared in the country back in 2014.

RUSSOFT then initiated two consortia: Beta, for the financial sector, and Soyuz, for the oil and gas sector. It was necessary that the state then support these consortia. That is, he offered a package of "carrot and stick" to Rosatom, Gazprom, Sberbank or the like, which involves setting technical tasks for such consortia and the obligation to purchase their platform solutions if the developments meet the requirements put forward, - Valentin Makarov told TAdviser.

If the state provided such support to consortia, then state-owned companies would already have the necessary domestic solutions, the head of Russoft is convinced. In addition, in his opinion, the consortia that developed them, together with state-owned companies, would successfully conquer the foreign market.

At the same time, the Association "Domestic Software" speaks of other problems that restrain import substitution in Russia, and offer a different solution for its development.

Most state-owned companies resist the transition to domestic solutions, mainly due to the unwillingness to change the established IT landscape of enterprises and the widespread opinion that no measures will follow the purchase of well-known foreign software, even if this software does not work. We are talking about measures such as the dismissal of responsible employees and the imposition of penalties, - explained to TAdviser the executive director of ARPP "Domestic Software" Renat Lashin.

He sees the solution to the problem with the transition of state-owned companies to domestic solutions in the extension of a number of requirements of the law 44-FZ on software purchases regulated by 223-FZ. That is, the introduction in the latter of a ban on participation in the procurement of software of foreign production, as well as related works and services carried out by foreign persons.

Industry Development Ideas

The heads of the relevant committees of the RUSSOFT association - on import substitution, the service industry, information security, training and advanced training of personnel - made proposals for the development of the IT industry for the government, as well as outlined its problematic issues and prospects.

Thus, RUSSOFT President Valentin Makarov noted the need to extend the industry of benefits for insurance premiums and announced insufficient state support for the export of Russian developers. In his opinion, for the export of software (software), that is, intangible products, it is necessary to create another specialized structure separate from the Russian export center.

We are ready to offer interaction with the Rosinfokominvest Foundation. This fund will be intended just to support the export of IT developers, - said Valentin Makarov.

He also spoke about the disappointing results of import substitution in Russia. Only 10% of software in Russia, according to its data, is of Russian origin.

According to Vitaly Balanda, director of innovation at Reksoft, coordinator of the RUSSOFT import substitution committee, several measures can solve the problem of import substitution.

The first of them is the transition from point digital transformation to the formation of package solutions. The second is connecting customers to the development of a unified licensing policy and creating uniform technical and business requirements for the supply of solutions. The third is the emergence of integrators of a new type, which are single points of interaction with potential customers and provide multi-tender support. The fourth is the creation of uniform mechanisms for interaction with the industry - interdepartmental working groups, project investment, project and business risk insurance, as well as the development of relevant legislative initiatives. For example, a document that assumes an accelerated depreciation mechanism for the replaced software.

The creation of these mechanisms and legislative initiators, according to Vitaly Balanda, could be engaged in the so-called "design and product" committee, created on the basis of existing development institutions.

Sergei Tikhomirov, President of the Codex Consortium, noted that digitalization in Russia needs more specifics and less "aplomb" and "pathos."

When I hear about platform-type digital ecosystems, I don't understand such words, "said Sergei Tikhomirov.

This kind of wording, according to him, is found in official documents, in particular - road maps. At the same time, documents related to import substitution are written in such a way that they still leave many possibilities for using imported software.

Sergei Tikhomirov, President of the Codex Consortium, noted that digitalization in Russia needs more specifics and less "aplomb" and "pathos."

According to Lev Matveev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SearchInform, coordinator of the Information Security Committee (Information Security) of RUSSOFT, a number of information security problems - the darknet, the drain of information at the state level - can be solved with the help of not so significant funds for 1-1.5 years. There are appropriate techniques for this.

If in the costs of digitalization at least 5-7% are allocated for information security, then the problem of information drain will simply disappear, - said Lev Matveev.

According to Sibedge CEO, coordinator of the service industry committee, Alexander Kalinin, the government sets the task of growing the digital economy, but does not create a market infrastructure for it, mainly supporting product companies. Only for them there is an opportunity not to pay VAT on the sale of licenses. In fact, these companies have an additional opportunity in terms of self-financing their developments.

As a result, we see that companies that have reached the ceiling of the simplified taxation system (STS) are forced to go to other countries, provoking an outflow of capital and personnel. Therefore, now a new task that will ensure digital transformation is to equalize conditions between service and product companies, which will create infrastructure for further growth within the country, "Alexander Kalinin is sure.

Getmobit CEO Maria Rukavishnikova outlined the problem of financial discipline in projects involving small companies.

Large companies take "liberties" in working with "kids." The inclusion in the Federal Law on the procurement of measures of additional administrative responsibility for violation of obligations to small and medium-sized businesses could really improve the situation and help young players at the start, - said Maria Rukavishnikova.

The head of the training and development department of Netrika Group of Companies, coordinator of the RUSSOFT Aleksei Dvoretsky personnel committee, speaking about training personnel for the IT industry, noted the importance of encouraging more practitioners to enter the higher education system. It is also important, in his opinion, to highlight support measures for teachers combining teaching and work in high-tech companies.

Financial initiatives of companies that have their own training centers and train students not only for themselves should be supported, - said Aleksei Dvoretsky.

Proposal to create the Ministry of Information Security

RUSSOFT will propose to the government to create a Ministry of Information Security, said Lev Matveev, chairman of the board of directors of SearchInform, on February 27, 2020, from whom this initiative proceeds. The proposal, he said, is planned to be sent to the government after elaboration within the association.

Since there is such a word - "darknet" - and there is a struggle with the shadow Internet, we want to come to the government with the help of the RUSSOFT committee with a proposal to create a separate ministry of information security. It does not matter what exactly it will be called. It is important to bring the experts in the field together. All specialists dealing with drugs on the Internet, bank secrets and cards, medical data, black realtors, information about real estate or that owned by the Pension Fund, and other professionals. Since they have a common quality - the ability to analyze the darknet, - said Lev Matveev.

Employees of the ministry, in his opinion, will have to monitor how information security is applied in practice. Many digital services, for example, public services, are created without its observance, Lev Matveev believes.

Also, the ministry should be engaged in the promotion of relevant laws. Moreover, those that are executed not only on paper, as, for example, FZ 152, but actually in practice. Let me give you an example. There is a problem - the sale of passports on the Internet. At the legislative level, it is necessary to oblige hotels and organizations from other industries to establish a system that controls access outside passports using any means, - explained Lev Matveev.

Regarding which person should take the post of Minister of Information Security, Matveev did not give an answer. But, in his opinion, both the head of the ministry and his deputies should be in the past the heads of large companies from the field of information security. There are 20-30 thousand computers.

About departments. For each area of ​ ​ information security, a department must be created. Including for the fight against drugs and the sale of passports on the Internet, leaks of information in the field of health care, banking incidents related to the darknet, problems of the FIU, - said Lev Matveev.

Employees of the Ministry of Information Security, according to Lev Matveev, will have to monitor how it is applied in practice.

Valentin Makarov, speaking with TAdviser, noted that he learned about the idea of ​ ​ "SearchInform" to create a ministry of information security only on February 27, 2020. However, according to him, Russia will come to this anyway.

Some kind of body will be created. Such as, for example, in Israel or in America. It may, of course, not be a ministry. And, most likely, it will not be it. But combining different resources, concentrated in different structures that control the information security situation, is inevitable. In particular, because coordination of their actions is necessary, as well as unification with business efforts, - Valentin Makarov told TAdviser.

According to him, government agencies lack a single center in the field of information security, unlike business, among which, for example, Kaspersky or Group IB concentrate relevant information in themselves.

It would be logical if the state began to help such a business in this matter - to contribute to the unification of various kinds of information. After all, in particular, he needs here and from government agencies all the data that they just do not provide to business, - Valentin Makarov drew attention.

TAdviser also learned the opinion of the business directly about the creation of the Ministry of Information Security.

Ilya Sachkov, CEO and founder of Group-IB, is confident that, like the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Information Security is a necessary body for any country.

For a long time, business and even states did not consider cybercrime a serious threat, in other words, underestimated the risks - "this does not concern us." Over the past decade, the number and level of complexity of cyber attacks by pro-state hacker groups and cyber-criminal structures has increased significantly. Not only people, but also companies and state organizations can no longer be sure of the security of cyberspace, as well as the integrity and security of their data: plums, leaks, cyber attacks by warring states are the realities in which each of us lives today, - said Ilya Sachkov.

Many international institutions, he said - for example, the Global Cyberspace Stability Commission (GCSC) - have included cyberthreats among the global threats to humanity.

Every time we say that a peaceful existence in isolation from cybersecurity is no longer possible and this factor cannot be ignored by any person, no business, no state, "Ilya Sachkov told TAdviser.

According to Andrey Yarnykh, Head of Strategic Projects at Kaspersky Lab, it is important to increase the involvement of regulators in the coordination of all projects related to information security and their interaction with them. Indeed, in the IT infrastructure, it is necessary to lay 5-7% of the budget on issues of protection and countering malicious code, including training and training of personnel. In addition, cybersecurity is one of the key elements in all national programs of the digital economy.

Whether a separate ministry is necessary for this area or there is enough department can be decided later, "Andrei Yarnykh told TAdviser.

The head of the information security department "CROC" Andrei Zaikin considers the creation of the Ministry of Information Security an unnecessary step, taking into account the availability of an appropriate department both in the Ministry of Communications and in law enforcement agencies.

The formation of such a structure will inevitably lead to the intersection of functions and conflict situations, which, as a result, will not lead to an increase in the general level of information security and efficiency, but to the fact that several federal executive bodies will not be able to determine where their area of ​ ​ responsibility begins and ends, "Andrei Zaikin predicted.

At the same time, in his opinion, information technologies are beginning to play a critical role in the development of the state, which is associated with a purposeful course towards digitalization and digital transformation - the transfer of most public services online, the transition to electronic document management, as well as the creation of a single database of the population and various super services for citizens.

Such innovations really reduce costs, increase the speed of interdepartmental interaction, the effectiveness of the services provided to the population. At the same time, all this increases the dependence of the functioning of the state on the uninterrupted operation of networks, creates the risks of leaks, for example, databases of users of public services. The state faces the task of protecting its own data, personal information of citizens, "Andrei Zaikin told TAdviser.

Regardless of the creation of the Ministry of Information Security, the head of Group-IB sees several pressing issues that require immediate resolution:

• synchronization of international legislation;

Cybercrime is not tied to geography: a crime in country A is committed from country B using the infrastructure located in country C. In order to fight cybercriminals, namely, to seek their detention and arrest, a well-functioning mechanism for interaction between countries, the development and synchronization of laws on countering cybercrime is necessary, - Ilya Sachkov is sure.

However, such measures, in his opinion, are absent, as well as a clear debugged interstate exchange in the field of data on cybercriminals.

Using the tense political situation between states and the lack of "rules of the game," cyber crime has gone unpunished for years, even being put on the international wanted list, Ilya Sachkov informed TAdviser.

The key to international stability, in his opinion, is the interstate exchange of data on attackers. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to develop a protocol for conducting data collection to attribute cyber attacks internationally. Such a protocol of interaction, according to Sachkov, can be created, for example, on the basis of the UN. In the same case, when one country has a suspicion of a cyber attack by another state, there should be no mutual accusations. Instead, a commission should be formed and an investigation conducted under certain rules.

• a moratorium on digital weapons;

Digital weapons, unlike ordinary ones, are just code. If someone invented the code and once used it for one purpose, you can intercept it, get it as a result of a leak and direct it to other purposes. Counter-terrorism operations carried out "on the ground" bind the hands of prohibited organizations and they strive for cyberspace, - said the head of Group-IB.

Using the same leak, such structures, he said, can remotely disconnect any infrastructure facility - a hydroelectric power station, a liquefied gas plant, provoking a disaster. They don't even need to know the source code to do that. That is why a moratorium should be introduced on the creation of any means of attack at the state level, the head of Group-IB is convinced.

• a global shift in the cybersecurity paradigm.

According to Sachkov, the paradigm of building cybersecurity should be changed. From passive defense, it is necessary to move on to hunting - to hunting for cybercriminals and hacker groups, preventing crimes at an early stage. Business and states must "grow up" and switch to using hunting technologies based on the knowledge of cybercrime techniques, tools and mechanisms around the world.

2018

As part of APKIT

Non-profit Partnership Russoft is an association of software exporter companies in Russia.

According to the information for 2018:

• Russoft is part of (APKIT), where it represents the Software Development and Export Committee .
• The consortium includes Fort Ross, which conducts commercial activities for organizing events, etc.

Cooperation with Rostelecom

The Association unites more than 130 software companies registered in Russia with a wide representation of regions (Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Volga basin, the Urals, Siberia, the Far East, the South region) with a total staff of more than 45,000 people.

On January 26, 2018, the Macro-Regional Branch of North-West Rostelecom and the non-profit partnership of software developers Russoft signed a cooperation agreement. The document was signed by Andrei Balatsenko, vice president - director of the North-West macro-regional branch of Rostelecom, and Valentin Makarov, president of NP Russoft. Read more here.

2017: Cooperation with ARPE

The association brings together more than 60 companies working in the field of information technology with a staff of more than 17,000 employees.

On September 20, 2017, the non-profit partnership Russoft and the Association of Developers and Manufacturers of Electronics (ARPE) signed a cooperation agreement.

NP Russoft and ARPE intend to jointly promote promising high-tech products and services of domestic companies in the Russian and world markets. As conceived by the parties, cooperation between Russoft and ARPE will allow consolidating the efforts of representatives of both sectors of the high-tech industry - enterprises engaged in the development and production of software and hardware. The organizations intend to agree to promote the interests of market participants in state authorities, as well as to implement comprehensive high-tech projects. Read more here.

2013: Opening of a representative office in The Hague

In October 2013, NP RUSSOFT opened an officially registered office in The Hague, NP RUSSOFT announced the start of activities in the Netherlands. The opening ceremony of the RUSSOFT representative office in the Netherlands was attended by the Vice-Mayor of The Hague Hank Kol, official representatives of the Government of St. Petersburg, the Embassy and the Trade Representative Office of the Russian Federation in the Netherlands, as well as representatives of IT companies of both states.

"We chose Holland to open a representative office in the EU thanks to the favorable conditions for doing business created here, but also because we met here a friendly and constructive attitude both from officials and organizations and from business," said RUSSOFT President Valentin Makarov.

During the discussion, the participants of the event in The Hague discussed the opportunities and practical aspects of interaction, among which the growth in demand for ICT services and the shortage of labor in the ICT market in the Netherlands were mentioned. In addition to participating in the discussion, each of the Russian members of the RUSSOFT delegation held a number of one-on-one meetings with Dutch companies in an organized making match session. The following companies took part in the RUSSOFT delegation: Arcadia, BelkaSoft, FirstLineSoftware, FirstBIT, Scout Group, IBA, SoftJoys, Solvo.

This meeting was a continuation of a similar event held in The Hague in November 2012, during which RUSSOFT also represented the interests of the Russian software development industry. During a return visit to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2013, the Hague City Hall, the West Holland Investment Attraction Agency (WFIA), RUSSOFT and the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR) signed a memorandum of intent, which provided for the opening of a RUSSOFT representative office in The Hague. As a result of the meeting in 2012, three Russian IT companies operate in West Holland: FirstLineSoftware and Digital Kingdoms in The Hague, and Viziware in Sassenheim.

2004: Name change to Russoft

• In September 2004, the organization changed its name to "Russoft" following a successful merger in May 2004 with the National Software Developers Association.
• In the fall of 2004, the first Baltic IT Cruise was organized, which was a great success. Now this is a meeting place for CEOs and IT directors of companies in the Baltic region, who would like to learn more about IT opportunities available on the "opposite shore."
• Protocols and Memoranda of Cooperation Agreements were signed with leading IT Associations from various parts of the world, including 4 IT Associations from New England (the Massachusetts Software Council, the Connecticut Technology Council, the Software Association of New Hampshire and Vermont Chamber of Commerce). KISA (Kansai Information Systems Association, Japan), AEII (the Association of Electronics and Information Industries, Israel) and the International and National IT Association from the USA and Germany, Scandinavian countries such as Finland, Great Britain, Austria and many others, began to cooperate with us in order to conduct projects.
• In 2004, Russoft made a significant contribution to the formulation of export-related events contained in the Concept for the Development of the Russian IT Market. The concept was created by the KIT AP and eventually adopted by the Government on November 18, 2004, thus becoming a turning point in the process of creating cooperation between the IT Community and the Government.
• In 2004, Russoft began creating a complete database of Russian software companies. Part of the Vendors Directory database on the portal is in the public domain www.russoft.org.
• In the same 2004, Fort Ross began a joint project with CNews regarding the organization of systematic marketing research on software outsourcing in Russia. The results of the first marketing research on the export of Russian software were published in 2004. For the first time in history, an objective assessment of the export of software to Russia became available. The problems and prospects of the market were also investigated and subsequently considered during the Concept for the Development of the Russian IT Market.
• During 2004-2005 Russoft and its members conducted several projects to develop IT parks in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod. All these projects are aimed at creating a modern infrastructure for the development of the industry.
• In September 2004, after merging with the National Association of Software Developers and Renaming, Russoft postponed its commercial activities and concentrated on a separate commercial organization called Fort Ross, which is mostly owned by the Consortium itself. Thus, Russoft will continue to try to influence the government and conduct a PR campaign, providing Fort Ross to organize international events and conduct direct marketing activities.

2003: First Russian CIO Summit

• The first Russian CIO Summit was organized in 2003. The idea of ​ ​ the conference - the creation of a forum to discuss the main problems and the development of the Russian software market from the point of view of customers - all production sectors are represented: large, medium and small, along with representatives of ministries and district administrations.
• In 2003, RUSSOFT (then Fort Ross) received the status of "Expert Partner" FASIE (Fund for Support of Small Innovative Enterprises, which belongs to the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia) in its launch program (investing new companies in the field of high technologies).
• In November 2003, RUSSOFT (then Fort Ross) joined AP KIT (Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises). In the same month, AP KIT was accepted into the World IT and Services Association (WITSA) thus providing Russoft with access to the international IT community.
• Through the AP KIT "Russoft" maintains active relations with all major ministries responsible for the development of the IT industry in Russia. In 2003, Russoft was the main contractor in the team that successfully took a contract from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade during the E-Russia program.

1999: Creation of the Fort Ross Consortium

• On September 9, 1999, the Fort Ross consortium was established in St. Petersburg. The consortium included 10 companies from St. Petersburg.
• Fort Ross organized many international marketing events in Europe (Scandinavia, Germany and Great Britain) and in large centers of the American IT industry (New England, California and New York).