UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 12, 2019. Lack of workers with digital skills is one of the key obstacles to the speedier digitization of Russia’s industry, ChelPipe Group’s shareholder Andrei Komarov said at Innoprom 2019 International Industrial Exhibition’s plenary session (The Industry of the Future: Growth Potential in New Digital Technologies & Organizational Models), the Group’s press service reports.

Russia’s Deputy Minister for Industry & Trade Oleg Bocharov chaired the session. Government officials and members of the expert and business communities talked about the prospects of digitizing the Russian economy.

‘As for the factors that hinder the Russian economy from getting digitized faster, digital skills are crucial here, since any technological breakthrough requires highly skilled workers as a pre-requisite. Despite its traditional strength in pure science, the Russian education system isn’t flexible enough to meet the entire economy’s digital transformation needs. There’s a discrepancy between the current speed of change and the system’s ability to come up with training, continuous professional development, and management courses. The emergence of new technologies results in the emergence of totally new jobs that require a combination of digital and soft skills (critical thinking, problem-solving, and data analysis). This is exactly why ChelPipe Group introduced its Future of White-Coated Metallurgy Corporate Training Program eight years ago; more than RUB 900m got invested in the skilled blue-collar worker cadre training course,’ ChelPipe Group’s shareholder Andrei Komarov said.

ChelPipe Group’s Future of White-Coated Metallurgy Corporate Training Program is being implemented as a public-private partnership in Sverdlovsk Region, Chelyabinsk Region, and Tatarstan.