Developers Ask for Government Funds to Build Domestic Software Alternatives

22 мая 2015 г. СМИ о нас Russia Insider http://russia-insider.com/en/technology/developers-ask-government-funds-build-domestic-software-alternatives/ri7268

Several Russian technology companies have appealed for state financing to support the development of domestic software that can replace unreliable Western-made products, sources told Gazeta.

The move comes following the publication of the Ministry of Communications software import substitution plan, which calls for Russia to develop domestic alternatives in 14 different software segments in order to reduce its reliance on foreign technology. However, there are currently no viable domestic alternatives in five of these segments — which include client, mobile and server operating systems, database management systems (DBMS), office software and cloud technologies — prompting local developers to ask for government support, Gazeta reports.

At present, imported software commands a greater than 95 percent market share in each of these segments, but the Ministry of Communications’ import substitution plan calls for this to be reduced to just 50 percent by 2025.

Gazeta reports the Ministry of Communications took the decision to build domestic alternatives out of security concerns, after foreign companies including Apple, Cisco Systems Ltd, Oracle Corp., SAP SE and others apparently refused to share the source code of their software products.

According to Gazeta, the Ministry is ready to lend its support to developers who can build show they’re able to build domestic alternatives in the five product categories. “The import substitution plan was originally made available to industry organizations, and the government is willing to help us build competitive products,” Alexei Smirnov, CEO of Alt Linux Ltd., the company that leads development of the Alt Linux operating system.

Smirnov said his company has already filed a proposal for the joint development of a server operating system for corporate customers, together with 20 other companies, which includes the Moscow Center of SPARC Technologies (MCST), maker of the Elbrus microprocessor.

Another Russian company, the database builder Postgres Professional, says it’s joined forces with several industry players to create database software for the Russian market. The company is already involved in the development of the PostgreSQL open-source database. Gazeta also said a company called PingWin Software has proposed to develop “new cloud technologies” for business applications.

Gazeta’s source told the news agency that the government may be willing to donate up to 1 billion rubles to fund projects in each of the five software categories. This comes after Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov himself recently told RIA Novosti that his office was working with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economic Development to prepare an application for funds from the government’s anti-crisis fund.

“The success of these projects will depend on how much technical support there is,” said Karen Ghazaryan, principal analyst at the Russian Association of Electronic Communications.

Ghazaryan stressed that both databases and operating systems could be developed in a relatively short space of time, because there have already been major advances with open-source software in these categories. However, she warned that making the products competitive would be harder to achieve.

“The developers will need to make their products cheaper than foreign competitors if they’re to gain market share, unless the government orders domestic companies to use Russian software,” the analyst said.

The news comes after Minister Nikiforov was reported to have held talks with representatives from the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Jolla about a establishing a partnership to build a Russian mobile operating system to rival Android and iOS, which currently dominate Russia’s smartphone market. Jolla’s Chairman of the Board Antti Saarni later denied his company was helping Russia to build an OS, but the Ministry of Communications said it plans to press ahead with its development anyway, possibily with the cooperation of fellow BRICS nations China, India, Brazil and South Africa.