65 percent of children entering primary school today will work in employment that does

not yet exist; and by 2022 approximately 22 percent of employment in the global

economy will be created by digital technologies. 73 percent of company managers say

they have serious problems finding specialists qualified in such technologies,

compared with 10 percent in 2010. This shows the speed of the changes to which

digitalisation is fundamenta

Morgan, William

Trofimova, Irina N.

Online Research @ Cardiff

Grundfragen und Trends | International38 Weiterbildung6|2020 • S.38-41There are opinions about digitalisation. Optimists say it is partof scientific and technological progress, and key to economicdevelopment, to the quality of life, and to democrati-sation. Pessimists see it as a neoliberal strategy bywhich market categories such as “efficiency” and “com-petitiveness” may be realised; and with a negativeimpact on cultural behaviour (Morgan 2018). The con-sensus is that digital change is complex and contro-versial, during which new values, institutions, and rela-tionships are formed. Its importance for society and economy is nowbeing evaluated (West/Allen 2020). Given the rapidspread of digital technologies, governments now followpolicies that provide information communication tech-nology (ICT) specialists and enhance the digital com-petence of the population. Digital skills open opportu-nities for employment, promotion, and better salaries,through flexibility, mobility, and interdisciplinarity atwork. They also enable social inclusion, civil activity,popular access to information and services, and lifelongeducation. A core benefit is the capacity to adapt toaccelerating social and economic changes. An earlierarticle considered higher education and the internationaldigital divide (Morgan/White 2017). The present articleis a case study of Russia. New Skills for a Digital SocietyDigital developments in Russia have their specific cha-racteristics. In the 1990s market reforms changed theformer Soviet economy. New universities trained mana-gers and administrators, and the training of engineeringand technical personnel was greatly reduced. Althoughthe Russian Federation did consider informatics ingeneral, professional, and continuing education, tele-communication networks, and the computerisation ofsociety, market processes prevailed over state policy.Today the problem is the challenge of digital technologyat a specific stage in the economic and social deve-lopment of the country (Morgan/Trofimova/Kliucharev2019). The digital economy contributes 3.9 percent toRussia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), comparedwith the United States at 10.9 percent, and China at10 percent. Forecasts suggest that the digitalisationof the Russian economy may increase the Gross Domes-tic Product (GDP) by 19 to 34 percent (McKinsey 2017,p. 8).According to the National Agency for FinancialInformation (NAFI), the common digital literacy indexof Russians is 58 percent (NAFI 2020, p. 8). Russianshave a high level of digital communication skills, butlower levels for digital security, information literacy,and problem-solving, and the lowest level for creatingdigital content. The highest indicators are by thoseunder 44 years, and the lowest by those over 55 years.By employment, the highest level achieved was achievedby full-time students, employed in their spare time,and the lowest by non-working pensioners. Competencein digital skills is about keeping up with technologicaltrends: Artificial Intelligence, data analysis, Big Dataand data management, software development, andDigital Skills and its Potential 65 percent of children entering primary school today will work in employment that doesnot yet exist; and by 2022 approximately 22 percent of employment in the global economy will be created by digital technologies. 73 percent of company managers saythey have serious problems finding specialists qualified in such technologies, compared with 10 percent in 2010. This shows the speed of the changes to which digitalisation is fundamental. The Digital Transformation of Russia Autorin/Autor |Dr. Irina N. Trofimova issenior research fellow, andD.Sc. (Politics), Centre forthe Sociology of Education,Science, and Culture, Fede-ral Centre of Theoreticaland Applied Sociology, Rus-sian Academy of Sciences,Russia. Professor Dr. W. John Mor-gan is professor emeritus,University of Nottingham;honorary professor, Schoolof Social Sciences, andLeverhulme emeritus fel-low, Wales Institute ofSocial and EconomicResearch and Data, CardiffUniversity, Wales, UnitedKingdom. He is also D.Sc.(h.c.), Institute of Socio-logy, Russian Academy ofSciences, Moscow, Russia.  Grundfragen und Trends | International39Weiterbildung6|2020 • S.38-41cybersecurity. In 2020 the proportion of adult Russianswith a high degree of digital competence was 27 percent(NAFI 2020, p. 1). Those employed in the information and commu-nications technology (ICT) sector, and in financial ser-vices, have the highest level of digital skills, whileemployees in construction, and social sectors, suchas public education, healthcare, social care, and culture,are lowest. The former recruit young people with thepotential for development in the new digital reality. 37percent of ICT specialists in business and 36 percentin finance are under 30 years, whereas in the labourforce generally, this group does not exceed 22 percent.Digital skills will determine roles and opportunities inthe future. They are a basic requirement together withliteracy and numeracy and an indicator of social com-petence. In the 1920s Soviet Russia saw literacy asintegral to socialist transformation. Today the situationis similar. Digital competence is key to the transfor-mation of contemporary Russia.Household and Professional UseThe demand for digital skills has grown significantly.This is due to the wide distribution and accessibility ofdigital and communication technologies and the growingdemand for digital products and services. The proportionof households with Internet access grew from 48 per-cent in 2010 to 77 percent by 2018. The proportionof the adult population using the Internet to ordergoods and services reached 35 percent, with 75 percentaccessing state and municipal services (HSE 2019b,p. 13-14). However, despite optimistic forecasts regar-ding Internet access and the development of digitalbusiness services, there remain differences amongpopulation groups. The biggest differences are between settlementtypes and between regions. This is due not only tovarying technical capabilities but also to the needs ofthe households themselves. According to official sta-tistics, 0.8 percent of urban households and 4.3 percentof rural households do not have the technical capacityto connect to the Internet. However, 15 percent of theurban population and 21 percent of the rural populationare not interested in using it (Federal State StatisticsService 2019). Households use the Internet for com-munication, information, banking, buying, and sellinggoods and services, entertainment, and, less frequently,for education, training, and blogging. In all cases, urbanInternet users are more active than rural ones. Thereis little difference between urban and rural Internetusers in participation in social networks (respectively77 and 75 percent), downloading audio and video mate-rial (49 and 41 percent), and computer games (30 and23 percent). The biggest differences are in business(48 and 26 percent), financial (55 and 40 percent),and purchasing (60 and 44 percent) activity.Internet Access and its UseThe picture changes among Russian regions as theyvary in social and economic development. There arebig differences in living standards, income, accessibility,and quality of social services. Access to the Internetand its use is determined primarily by the businessinterests and financial capabilities of the population,and by what is needed in the distinct regions of Russia.We mean by this a high diversification of production,competition for goods and services, and diversity ofcultural, social, and political life, which require searchingfor and analysing information, choosing and beingresponsible for the choice made. For example, thereis a high level of per capita income in the Chukotkaregion (Far East), and 92 percent of the populationaged 15 years to 72 years have access to the Internet,but only 19 percent use digital services (HSE 2018, p.198-203). By comparison, the Yamal-Nenets Autono-mous Okrug (the largest oil and gas production areain Western Siberia) also has a high level of per capitaincome, while 97 percent of the population has accessto the Internet and 86 percent use digital services.Each region is a specific case and access to the Internetand its use depends on current regional policy.Again, compared with households, business enter-prises have a higher level of Internet access. Today 85percent of business organizations generally and 92 percentin finance have access to the Internet (HSE 2019a, p. 37-40). The most common reasons for using the Internetare to search for information and messaging (81 percent),banking and other financial transactions (61 percent),cooperation with suppliers (66 percent) and consumers(54 percent), the training of employees (40 percent),video conferencing, and recruitment (each 33 percent),access to databases and electronic libraries (25 percent).Literatur |Federal State Statistics Ser-vice: https://gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/business/it/fed_nabl-croc/index.html,(in Russ.). 2019Global CEO: People strategyfor the digital age. A newtake on talent. 2015.https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/hr-management-ser-vices/publications/assets/people- strategy.pdfHSE: The informationsociety [Informatsionnoyeobshchestvo], (in Russ.).Moscow 2018HSE: Digital economy: glo-bal trends and practice ofRussian business [Tsifro-vaya ekonomika: glo-bal’nyye trendy i praktikarossiyskogo biznesa], (inRuss.). Moscow 2019aHSE: Indicators of the digi-tal economy [Indikatory tsi-frovoy ekonomiki], (inRuss.). Moscow 2019bMcKinsey: Digital Russia: ANew Reality [Tsifrovaya Ros-siya: Novaya real’nost‘], (inRuss.). Moscow 2017Morgan, W.J./White, I.: Hig-her Education and the Inter-national Digital Divide. In:Weiterbildung – Zeitschriftfür Grundlagen, Praxis undTrends, 1, 2017, p. 37-40Morgan, W.J.: Play, pueri-lism, and post-modernism.In: Educational Philosophyand Theory, 50:14, p. 1612-1613, DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2018.1461405Morgan, W.J./Trofimova,I.N./Kliucharev, G.A.: CivilSociety, Social Change, anda New Popular Education inRussia. London/New York2019 24696131718Hire new permanent staff with skills relevant to new technologiesLook to automate the workHire new temporary staff with skills relevant to new technologiesExpect existing employees to pick up skills on the jobRetrain existing employeesOutsource some business functions to external contractorsHire freelancers with skills relevant to new technologiesStrategic redundancies of staff wholack the skills to use new technologiesGrundfragen und Trends | International40 Weiterbildung6|2020 • S.38-41The level of digital skills of employees in business enter-prises is, again unsurprisingly, higher than the averagefor the population. Of course, employers’ requirementsof employees are also greater, as the higher the levelof digital skills, the more opportunities they and theiremployers have in the market. Given technologicaltrends, companies are exploring and adapting to thepossibilities of digital business. This is primarily in infor-mation and communications technology (ICT), as wellas in large organizations aiming to optimize activities,such as banks, postal services, and railways. Thosereliant on state budgets, such as in culture, healthcare,education, social care, and the military, must also adaptto digital technologies. Digitalisation means improvingmanagement, for example, in procurement, accounting,and human relations. ICT Education and TrainingThere are distinct levels of digitalisation in Russiansociety: national politics, corporate politics, commu-nities, and individuals. Digital transformation as a meansfor economic and social development began in the lastdecade. Several initiatives were made, including somesupported by international organizations such as theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Develop-ment (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF),and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, andCultural Organization (UNESCO). Today, Russian nationalpolicy presents digitalisation as a key factor in economicgrowth. The annual increase of almost 10 percent ofstudents applying to universities for ICT qualificationsis a sign of this. In 2019 this totalled 50,000 students.By 2024 it is planned that 120,000 students will takeup ICT and mathematics-related places at Russian uni-versities, while 800,000 students competent in thedigital economy will graduate from higher educationannually, ensuring advanced digital skills in 40 percentof the population. However, it is also necessary to create appropriatejobs and workplaces, to promote digital education anddigital skills more generally, and to remove barriers todigital awareness and competence. In response com-panies globally are using the following strategies: thehiring of staff with the relevant skills, the improvementof the skills of current employees, and the automationand outsourcing of work. According to a World EconomicForum Report (WEF 2018, p. 92-93), such strategiesare also used by Russian companies (Figure 1).This shows that, while the training policies of com-panies vary, they can change the structure of the labourmarket. Individual responses require risk awarenessand readiness to improve digital skills. This is shownin that 65 percent of employed Russians are afraid ofstaff reductions because of innovative technologies,while 24 percent believe they may be unemployed ifthey do not acquire and develop digital skills (NAFI2020, p. 1). As a previous study shows, 50 percent ofrespondents are interested in continuing education toimprove their digital competence (NAFI 2019). Russianswish to enhance their capacity to solve technical pro-blems using computers and programmes (38 percent),to find information digitally (37 percent), to ensureinformation security (37 percent), and to work withelectronic files and programmes (35 percent). Russianswith an average level of self-esteem about their digitalcompetence are, not unexpectedly, keener to studythan others (Figure 2).Mixed Attitude towards Distance LearningYet, as the table shows, 44 percent of Russians arestill reluctant to learn new digital skills. They comparethe financial and time costs with potential benefits andare not persuaded of the necessity for further learning.Fig. 1: Answers to changing skills needs (share of companies surveyed), %7471686259548486 1212202026252428Source: WEF 2018, 92-93 ■ Likely      ■ Equally likely      ■ UnlikelySchwerpunkt | InternationalHowever, 75 percent of those who would like to improvetheir knowledge and skills in information and commu-nications technology are interested in free distancelearning. Russians have a mixed attitude towards dis-tance learning, while 22 percent of respondents donot have devices that can access distance learning(computer, laptop, or tablet). Although 54 percent ofRussians regard distance learning positively, 36 percentstill view it negatively. The main drawback is the lackof personal contact between the student and theteacher. Almost half of the respondents (42 percent)would prefer video lessons with a lecturer. Distancelearning is considered less effective (12 percent), incon-venient (8 percent), hampered by the lack of controland motivation of the student (7 percent). A preferencefor the traditional format of education affects theinterest and readiness of Russians for distance lear-ning.The most critical digital situation is found in Russiancommunities. Parental, religious, and teacher commu-nities, and public organizations are focused on main-taining a friendly social environment. They value inter-personal communication as a form of socialisation andinclusion and criticize digital communications for theirlack of spirituality, and commonality. These are reasonsto make digital technologies less intimidating, moreuser-friendly, and secure. The value of interpersonalcommunication and collective activity will grow in paral-lel with the digitalisation of utilitarian processes. Edu-cation is a way of transforming society in both directions.It is not just an effective tool for increasing economicefficiency, but also supports social justice, the publicgood, and human rights. Given future technologicalchanges, this remains vitally important.COVID-19 Pandemic and Digital Prospects The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted existing pro-blems. First, it has increased uncertainty in the economyand specifically in the labour market. It has increasedthe demand for digital technologies and shown theproblem of an acute shortage of competent specialistsin the economy. Against this background, the Russiangovernment will continue to stimulate the ICT industryand finance the training of specialists. Secondly, the COVID-19 pandemic has compelledchanges in the mode of activity of enterprises, organi-zations, and public institutions. Schools and universitiesswitched temporarily to distance learning, the quality,cost, and availability of which were perceived ambigu-ously by the participants. The sudden switch to distancelearning has revealed huge differences in the levels ofdigital competence. This underlines the need for localauthorities to provide digital opportunities and trainingfor citizens, especially low-income families.Thirdly, the government will support measures toreduce the risks of a new wave of the COVID-19 virusand to cope with it, should it come. This requires activeadaptation to digital technologies in public adminis-tration, education, and healthcare, through new pro-grammes, employee training, and the encouragementof a new digital culture.There remain both positive and negative factors.On the one hand, there is a huge market capacity fordigital technologies, services and goods, and a greatpotential for human development. On the other, thereare still problems in meeting this growing demand, andin removing regional, social, and cultural barriers toan inclusive digital society. This shows the need for arapid increase in the numbers of people with basic,standard, and advanced digital skills. The best solutionsare in education and training initiatives that are effectiveand designed for the future.Fortsetzung Literatur |NAFI: Ready to learn: Russi-ans want to learn newthings about the digitalsphere. Press release[Gotovy uchit’sya: rossiyanekhotyat uznavat‘ novoye otsifrovoy sfere].https://nafi.ru/analytics/uchitsya-uchitsya-i-eshche-raz-uchitsya-rossiyane-kho-tyat-uznavat-novoe-o-tsifro-voy-sfere/, (in Russ.). Mos-cow 2019NAFI: Digital literacy of Rus-sians [Tsifrovaya gramot-nost‘ rossiyan], (in Russ.).Moscow 2020WEF: The Future of Jobs.Employment, Skills andWorkforce Strategy for theFourth Industrial Revolu-tion. Geneva 2016WEF: The Future of Jobs.Employment, Skills andWorkforce Strategy for theFourth Industrial Revolu-tion. Geneva 2018West, D.M./Allen, J.R.: Tur-ning Point: Policymaking inthe Era of Artificial Intelli-gence. Washington, D.C.202041Weiterbildung6|2020 • S.38-41Fig. 2: Russians self-esteem of their digital literacy level and readiness to learn newskills, % among all respondentsSelf-esteemCompetent and want to study furtherCompetent and that is sufficientSatisfactory and I want to study furtherSatisfactory and I do not want to study furtherNot competent and want to study further. Not competent, but do not want to studyStudying now Difficult to answer%543121141924Source: NAFI 2019

The digital transformation of Russia: digital skills and its potential

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The digital transformation of Russia: digital skills and its potential

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