Creating favorable conditions for international technological cooperation in the region
Russia is renowned worldwide for its talented programmers and mathematicians. Nizhny Novgorod is one of the main "factories" producing digital engineers. Unfortunately, this is not well known in Russia and even less so internationally. The numerous engineering intelligentsia combined with strong IT education potential could become the competitive advantages that Nizhny can leverage to build a new attractive international image.
The image of a "forge" for leading programmers in Europe and the world can help attract investments and create high-skilled jobs based on new offices and R&D centers of international IT companies.
Just 2.5 decades ago, Nizhny Novgorod was best known to the international public due to the first scientific laboratory in the Soviet Union for creating nuclear weapons "Arzamas-16" or "Sarov," located nearby. The region was rediscovered by the world as an industrial center in the early 1990s during the visit of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Since then, Nizhny has transformed into one of the main "factories" for mathematicians and programmers, highly valued by Western IT corporations. This transition remained unnoticed.
Even in Russia, few know that the creator of the main Russian digital platform Yandex, Ilya Segalovich, was from Nizhny Novgorod, as was the creator of the Viber messenger, Igor Magazinnik. Another example of an IT guru from Nizhny is Lev Bannov, the author of OnlyOffice, an office application that seriously competes with Microsoft's office products in Europe. There are numerous examples of current and future IT champions in Nizhny.
The historical transformation of Nizhny from the "hometown" of the atomic bomb to the "hometown" of Yandex is an excellent story for international journalists and bloggers. The 800th anniversary of the city is a good reason to "update" the image of Nizhny Novgorod in the eyes of the world, presenting the region as a real candidate for the role of "capital" of IT education in Russia and Europe.
It is proposed to carry out a set of measures to significantly strengthen the image positions of Nizhny worldwide, particularly demonstrating achievements in human, scientific, and educational potential development with the help of international journalists and bloggers and through a dedicated web resource aimed at an international audience.
Coverage in international media of Nizhny's new agenda for foreign entrepreneurs, investors, and tourists will help attract investments, and localize offices of international IT companies and R&D centers. Nizhny can become a full-fledged IT city of Russia and a real competitor to Moscow, Kazan, and St. Petersburg.
Project Goal
With the help of international journalists and web resources, clearly demonstrate that Nizhny Novgorod is a powerful and dynamically growing educational center in the field of programming, with a research base, R&D centers, attractive labor costs for highly qualified personnel, as well as favorable legal, tax, and administrative regimes for opening IT company offices and conducting entrepreneurial and research activities.