"Elar" develops the digital memory of VDNKh

2026: Electronic Archive System Upgrade Complete

Elar Corporation has completed a project to modernize the electronic archive system of the VDNKh Foundation - an integrated digital resource designed to store, systematize and publicly present documents, award materials, photographs and information about the participants of the Exhibition. The project was the next stage in the development of the information system created by ELAR earlier, and was aimed at forming a more connected and visual digital representation of the historical heritage of the main Exhibition of the country. Elar announced this on February 11, 2026.

𝓲

Фото: Elar

The system combines a closed circuit for the internal work of specialists and an open circuit - the public Internet portal "VDNKh Archive and Library Fund," which houses materials of public interest. The resource accumulates materials from the VDNKh archive and library fund, reflecting the history of the exhibition complex since its inception, as well as the contribution of people and groups to the development of the country.

The completed modernization touched upon the principles of presentation of materials and the tools for working with them. Within the framework of the project, the mechanisms for the formation and publication of content were updated, which made it possible to connect documents, events and personalities in a single digital space and build stable semantic connections between them. This created the basis for a holistic perception of the history of VDNKh as a consistent historical process, and not a set of disparate facts.

Thematic sections dedicated to key events and memorable dates in the history of the Exhibition were developed on the VDNKh Archive and Library Fund portal. Documents and photographs are presented in the context of specific historical milestones, which makes the materials more understandable and informative for a wide audience.

The possibilities of presenting information about employees of VDNKh have been significantly expanded. Updated personal pages combine information about professional activities, awards and, if any, participation in the Great Patriotic War. A separate emphasis is placed on materials reflecting the continuity of generations and dynasties whose history has been associated with the Exhibition for decades.

The project to create an electronic archive of VDNKh is being implemented in stages. Earlier, ELAR Corporation carried out large-scale work on the digitization of award materials and the formation of a single database, including information about more than 60 thousand organizations and over one million people who have ever won VDNH awards.

In 2022, the portal was integrated with the information system of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation "Memory of the People." As a result, cross-links between the two resources were implemented on the pages of VDNKh employees - participants in the Great Patriotic War, which made it possible to connect information about the combat path of the heroes with information about their achievements in peacetime.

The modernization of the electronic archive system of the VDNKh Foundation strengthens its role as a modern tool for preserving historical memory. The portal allows you to consider the history of the Exhibition through the fate of people, their achievements and contribution to the development of the country, forming a connected and accessible space of historical knowledge.

The project continues to develop as a significant element of the VDNKh digital infrastructure, ensuring the preservation of the documentary heritage and forming an understandable and connected historical context in the modern cultural space.

2023: Integration of the VDNKh award materials portal with "Memory of the People"

ENEA Documents from the Great Patriotic War appeared on the portal of award materials.

Earlier, ELAR Corporation carried out work to create the online portal itself and digitize archival documents of more than 1,000,000 laureates of VDNH exhibitions.

The information portal of award materials VDNKh is an online resource with a large database of digitized archival documents. The portal provides information on national achievements since the foundation of the exhibition in 1939.

The ELAR developers were tasked with digitizing and collecting in a single electronic archive all the award materials of the VDNKh participants, photographs, as well as a variety of documentation reflecting the history of the exhibition. It was necessary to ensure not only its reliable long-term storage and use for internal needs, but also to organize convenient public access to the most interesting materials about the participants in the events and their awards. Users can find award decrees on the portal, which mention more than 60 thousand organizations and more than one million people. Information has been published about both labor collectives and individual agricultural workers, machine operators, industrialists, aircraft designers, scientists and researchers who have ever been awarded at VDNH for significant achievements and advanced developments.

In 2022, the next stage of the development of the project was completed - the mutual integration of the VDNH portal with the online resource of genuine archival documents about the Great Patriotic War - "Memory of the People" of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Now, when searching the Memory of the People portal, users see not only the combat path of the hero of the Second World War, but also his achievements in peacetime, if he is awarded as a laureate of VDNKh awards. By the same analogy, on the VDNKh portal, when viewing information on awards for peaceful achievements, data on military merits are also available if the laureate is a participant in the Great Patriotic War.

The creation of an electronic database and a public portal "VDNKh Archive and Library Fund" made it possible to perpetuate the memory of millions of exhibition participants and their achievements, "said Yuri Spelnik, director of corporate customer relations at ELAR. - VDNKh's online resource makes it easy to find information about a particular participant and get documentary evidence of his awards and achievements. The integration of VDNKh and Memory of the People portals further expanded the functionality of the solution, providing convenient access to a huge database of digitized documents with data from exhibition laureates and information about those who participated in the Great Patriotic War.