E-governance will be developed in the Dnipropetrovsk region. A highly qualified expert with experience in the field of IT technologies was involved in this work. Dmitry Dubilet has been appointed advisor to the Chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional State Administration Valentin Reznichenko. The corresponding order was signed on May 19, 2015.
Dmitry Dubilet has implemented a number of successful projects - both his own and those commissioned by domestic businesses. The adviser to the chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk regional state administration again considers the implementation of e-government to be one of the promising areas of work. In his opinion, this will make it possible to bring a wide range of services as close as possible to each person and transfer them into electronic form. In addition, thanks to innovation, it is possible to completely eliminate the corruption component in a short period of time, ensuring openness and transparency of procedures.
Reference:
Dubilet Dmitry Aleksandrovich graduated from Kiev National University. Taras Shevchenko - Faculty of International Relations. In 2005, he organized the startup "Fine Web", which he led until 2010. Completed an internship at MasterCard. In 2010, he began his career at PrivatBank - he worked as a marketing director. In 2011, he joined the board of this institution and studied at London Business School. Since December 2013, Dmitry Dubilet has been working as IT Director of PrivatBank.
In the Dnepropetrovsk region they are planning to develop electronic governance; a highly qualified expert with experience in the field of IT technologies has been involved in this work.
Dmitry Dubilet was appointed advisor to the chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk regional state administration, Valentin Reznichenko. The corresponding order was signed on May 19.
Reference
Dubilet Dmitry Aleksandrovich graduated from Kiev National University. Taras Shevchenko - Faculty of International Relations.
In 2005, he founded the startup “Fine Web,” which he led until 2010.
Completed an internship at MasterCard.
In 2010, he began his career at PrivatBank - he worked as a marketing director. In 2011, he joined the board of this institution and studied at London Business School.
Since December 2013, Dmitry Dubilet has been workingIT Director of PrivatBank.
The Chairman of the Board of PrivatBank is Alexander Dubilet.
Dmitry Dubilet has implemented a number of successful projects - both his own and those commissioned by domestic businesses. The newly appointed adviser to the chairman of the regional state administration considers the implementation of e-government to be one of the promising areas of work. In his opinion, this will make it possible to bring a wide range of services as close as possible to each person and transfer them into electronic form. In addition, thanks to innovation, in a short period of time it is possible to completely eliminate the corruption component, ensuring openness and transparency of procedures, says Dmitry Dubilet.
As you know, Privatbank is part of the Privat financial and industrial group, co-owned by Dnepropetrovsk billionaire, ex-chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk regional state administration Igor Kolomoisky.
Dmitry Dubilet, director of information technology at PrivatBank, spoke about what it was like to work under the leadership of his father.
The peculiarity of the work is that Alexander Valerievich [Alexander Valerievich Dubilet] is very afraid that something might look like an indulgence to a relative. And I believe that he is much stricter towards me than towards other top managers.
This can manifest itself in a variety of things, starting with the budget and ending with some initiatives, questions or tasks that he sets for me. The bank only benefits from this. All top managers know this, they pat me on the shoulder and say: “What did you want?”
When a boss demands more from a subordinate, it may seem like a disadvantage, you may be annoyed, but in the long run it is a plus, because you work in tougher conditions, which better keep you on your toes.
Another feature, perhaps, is that it may be completely unbearable for other members of our family to be in the same company with us, because my father and I often discuss some work issues even outside of work. But my mother and wife have veto power over these conversations, and they actively use it.
And we never had any conflicts. In general, we have a very good atmosphere in the bank. There is no stagnation there, people change, including among top managers, but the backbone of the team is formed, very good relationships have been built, and there is no issue on which we would not agree or find a compromise.
My father’s main trait is his readiness to innovate. It’s incredible how quickly he can catch a trend and make us run in some direction long before business literature starts writing about this trend. The same applications for smartphones. Now everyone is doing this, but we received the instructions to start working on this two or three years ago. And I believe that the future of digital banking is here. Openness in general to everything new. When a new social network or some service is launched, Alexander Valerievich is almost one of the first Ukrainian users to register and study there, he sends us links at night - “do this”...
The second important feature is rigor. He is very strict, very tough, but fair. This is part of our corporate structure - tough but fair management. We are aware that in Ukraine the morale of employees towards the employer may not be at such a high level as in the West. Therefore, we are sometimes forced to apply some measures that may not be as democratic as in Western companies.
My father’s role in my development as a top manager is very important. I consider him the smartest person in our country, I consider him the most talented manager in our country.
I owe the lion's share of the qualities that I acquired during my career to my father. He taught me something, I looked at him. Maybe I taught him something, it’s hard to say. He is a person who is ready to accept everything new, including from me.
On Sunday, December 18, at a late meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, the government decided to transfer.
This news was unexpected not only for investors, but also for the head of the IT department of PrivatBank, Dmitry Dubilet. What he wrote about on his Facebook, however, according to the representative of Privatbank, depositors have nothing to fear:
Dear friends, today PrivatBank becomes a state bank.
This is unexpected news (including for me, believe me), but there is no need to worry. In this post I will try to collect answers to all the questions that may concern you now.
1. Should Clients worry about their money?
No, you don't need to worry. All funds in current and deposit accounts of all individuals and legal entities will be safe and sound. This is guaranteed by the state.
2. Why did this happen?
Since the war began, our bank has experienced seven information attacks. Any other bank would not have survived any of them.
But the latest attack, which began a week ago, was the worst. Every day we updated records for the number of funds issued to panicking Clients at ATMs and branches.
By the way, on Saturday, when the panic began to subside a little, Inter made the control shot in the evening news: “On Monday, PrivatBank will suspend all payments! However, we have received neither confirmation nor refutation of this information from the bank’s press service.” I think there is a special place in hell reserved for Inter journalists (I did not receive a refutation from the press service of hell).
Actually, the decision to voluntarily and peacefully transfer the bank into state ownership was made exactly at the moment when we realized that we might not survive this information attack, and that our Clients might be under threat.
Alexander Shlapak becomes the new chairman of the bank’s board (this is great news!), who should soon form a new team of top managers. Formally, the transition period, during which we will bring the new team up to speed, will last several months.
It’s scary to admit, but I don’t think that Clients or employees will feel much difference in the work of the bank. Everything works like clockwork for us. The same professionals remain at the head office and branches. The bank has created a unique corporate culture. All this will not go away with our departure.
And I don’t believe that the state will take away the iPads from our employees in the branches and give them bills instead.
4. Can we be called deceivers because we previously ruled out the option of nationalization earlier?
In fact, no one thought of nationalizing us. Yes, there were indicators that deteriorated for us as a result of the war and the falling economy (like all banks), and we calmly moved according to the three-year plan approved with the National Bank. We continued to be profitable and regularly repaid NBU loans.
But, unfortunately, what sociologists call a “self-fulfilling prophecy” happened. Since our favorite Onishchenko registered the bill on the nationalization of PrivatBank two years ago, enemy media began to regularly disperse this topic. So nationalization turned into a horror story that scared away our investors, which ultimately led us to this situation.
Firstly, I (like all my colleagues) will do everything to ensure that the transition period goes as smoothly as possible - both for Clients and for our employees. I will help the new management of the bank as much as necessary.
PrivatBank is our child (damn, forgive the pathos). Even if this child now lives in a new family, we will still make sure that he is well-fed, healthy and wears warm socks :)
What after the bank? I haven't decided yet. On the one hand, I have the second business of my life - iGov (let me remind you that this project is not connected with the bank). Perhaps I will start doing it not 10% of the time, as before, but full time, 100% of the time.
On the other hand, I don’t have enough financial cushion to devote myself to volunteer work for a long time... In general, I’ll think about it and keep you informed.
Dear friends, dear Clients and employees, thank you very much for your support. You and I have witnessed an amazing and rather cynical story, the details of which we will share with you.
The chairman of the board of the nationalized Privatbank, Alexander Shlapak, compared this financial institution to a Ferrari sports car, which has a barrel of toxic assets on its trailer. That is, although the bank has a lot of problem loans, Privat itself is one of the most innovative on the market. Before nationalization - from May 10, 2011 to December 20, 2016 - Dmitry Dubilet was the bank’s IT director and deputy head of the board. Also - a minority shareholder of the bank with a share of 0.1107%. In addition, Dmitry is the son of the former head of the board of Privat, Alexander Dubilet.
We recorded this interview before the first of July - the date of expiration of the obligations of the former owners to restructure debts; the date after which NABU came to Privat’s central office in Dnipro. All the more interesting today are the judgments of Dubilet, one of the creators of this very Ferrari. In the conversation, he calls all the accusations against the bank’s former shareholders “very value judgments,” preferring to talk about his new IT company Fintech Band and the non-profit project iGov, which he is currently developing.
"Technology has made the bank the most advanced not only in Ukraine, but throughout the world"
Sonya Koshkina (SK): So, how did you part ways with Privatbank?
We . At Privatbank I was responsible for the IT direction, information technology in the field of finance. Now I continue to do the same thing, but as an entrepreneur.
At the same time, I have been developing the volunteer social project iGov for the second year. This is a non-profit project. And I, along with hundreds of other volunteers, help our state transfer services into electronic form. This project was started in 2015. Fortunately, the bank management then allowed me to do this in my free time. Plus, sometimes I took time off at my own expense to hold some meetings, etc.
SK: This is your social activity, and what kind of business are you developing?
Some colleagues from Privatbank and I created a company called Fintech Band (from English “financial technology” and “music band”). We offer banks, so far only Ukrainian ones, cool advanced IT solutions.
Oleg Bazar (OB): Are these decisions somehow based on what you did in Privat?
These decisions are based on our experience at Privatbank, of course.
SK: What was your contribution to Privat? What exactly was your innovation?
The bank became a market leader even before I joined it. Since 2001, the chairman of the board (Alexander Dubilet - ed.) said that we are not a bank, but an IT company. That we are not bankers, but IT specialists. They said it before it became mainstream. Nowadays many people say so. And banks, and agricultural companies, and retail.
The chairman of the board read an amazing one, and it turned everything upside down. We now have electronic document management and have begun to actively develop Internet banking. All these technologies have made the bank the most advanced not only in Ukraine, but throughout the world...
SK: In the world?
Yes, sure. Privatbank is considered one of the most advanced banks in the world.
SK: Who is considered?
For example, there is this Chris Skinner. One of the world's most famous banking experts. He was a few years ago and... In his latest book, he devoted quite a lot of space to us.
Or another example. At those rare conferences in which we took part, Western colleagues almost fainted from what we were doing at Privatbank.
SK: How did the bank decide to move along the path of promoting information technology? Were you, the younger generation, able to convince the chairman of the board?
The beauty is that this was the initiative of the leader. Although there was, of course, counter traffic too. Without the support of the chairman of the board, it would be much more difficult to build an IT company. Everyone at the bank became IT specialists. Those who could not change their minds left the bank and said goodbye to them. All top managers (no matter whether they were involved in the retail or corporate sector) studied the elements of programming, the basics of SQL queries (Structured Query Language - a structured query language, a programming language for managing databases - ed.), how to create mockups (from English mock-up - a layout, a specially prepared file in which you can place your design on real objects - ed.). That is, everyone quite deeply understood the architecture of the IT complexes that were involved in the bank.
OB: But there are pure financiers who, in principle, can be talented, but do not know programming.
No There were almost no such people in our bank. Let me give you a beautiful example. Two years ago I had a dialogue with our chief lawyer. And he told me that he made an API for his system (Application Programming Interface - an interface for creating applications, in other words, ready-made code to simplify the life of a programmer - ed.). And I ask him: in XML? (eXtensible Markup Language is an extensible markup language with a simple formal syntax, convenient for creating and processing documents - ed.). And he says: no, in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation - a text data exchange format based on JavaScript technology - ed.).
What other company has a lawyer who understands the difference between JSON and XML? Our lawyer really understood this difference.
OB: Does Privatbank remain a high-tech company after the departure of the previous management?
I have made it a rule not to comment on what is currently happening at the bank.
SK: Okay, otherwise I’ll ask a question. How long can the IT system work without you at the bank? How much safety margin have you left?
It will function for a long time, because we made it conscientiously. And today we are launching with two new banks. These are Sergei Tigipko’s Universal Bank and Evgeniy Berezovsky’s Ibox Bank.
SK: Why with them?
Our tools lie in the field of retail services for individuals, and this completely coincided with their strategy.
OB: It was an innovation in 2001 - to create an IT company in a bank. Perhaps in 5-10 years it will be necessary to build something else?
I am sure that IT is a mandatory competency for any business today and in the future. It was just 10 years ago that you could imagine that you were managing a large business where IT was not a key competency. Now I can’t even imagine how this is possible.
Look anywhere. Retail, agribusiness, banking, even the media. The Internet is becoming a more important medium.
OB: Why does agribusiness need IT?
Only IT allows us to maintain margins. Without IT, you cannot ensure that your combine operators go to work on schedule and that your fuel is not stolen. It is necessary to launch drones that will monitor the quality of field processing. And there are many, many other tools.
“I’m not interested in being in the banking business.”
Andrey Yanitsky (AY): How did it happen that so many cool things were done at the bank, but in the end it was nationalized? Why is there such a beautiful facade, and the NBU is talking about a hole in the balance sheet of 148 billion hryvnia and about the withdrawal of money abroad?
I was an IT director at a bank, and it’s difficult for me to comment on all these lofty matters.
AYA: But without your attention this could not have happened. Money is also a digital code, in general. You probably noticed the movement of such amounts?
Oh, yes (laughs), I remember when I left the bank at night, I saw how they loaded cash into the cars, but then I didn’t attach any importance to it. No, in fact, as far as I understand, the words of the head of the National Bank are, let’s say, very value judgments that have not yet received evidence.
SK: But it was a shame when the bank was nationalized. Especially if, as former shareholders say, this was done for political reasons.
This whole situation was hurtful.
SK: How quickly will other banks catch up with Privat now?
At least two banks will quickly catch up and surpass him: Universalbank and Ibox. But competition is good!
AY: After the nationalization of Privatbank, did former board members lose the right to work in the banking sector?
We deal with IT. We deliver the right mobile applications, the right software systems. This is something we are great at.
AYA: Can you open your own bank now?
I am not interested in being in the banking business. It is interesting to work in technology in the field of finance, fintech. This year we are focusing on Ukraine, next year we want to enter foreign markets.
AYA: Are you going to work only with banks, or with insurance companies too?
We don't understand the insurance business that deeply. We do not provide solutions for insurance companies. But, for example, in transactional business, in small retail lending, we understand. We sell these solutions to banks; this is retail banking. It is advisable to only bank using a smartphone (mobile only). This is a trend that we are now seeing in the West. And I hope that we can then use the Ukrainian experience in Western markets.
SK: You offer a set of solutions to different banks. How then will these banks differ from each other?
This is a question for marketers, for those who will be responsible for positioning. Maybe the terms of the banking product will be different, maybe something else. But now there are no sane mobile applications on the market, except for Privat24. That is, if you just want to transfer money in a couple of clicks, then, unfortunately, no one except Privat24 really allows you to do this. Years after we launched p2p (person-to-person) transactions in our applications, it is only now that competing applications have begun to appear. But other functions, such as utility payments, have not been implemented properly.
OB: There is a PayPal payment system in the world, which for some reason does not work in Ukraine. And she could be a competitor.
This is no longer a question for us. As I understand it, due to some country risks, due to some legislative features, PayPal makes a conscious decision not to enter our market. There is no conspiracy to keep PayPal out of the market.
AY: Fintech Band - is it just Dmitry Dubilet or someone else?
There are three key partners. This is Oleg Gorokhovsky, Mikhail Rogalsky and me. This is the main driving force.
(Clarification: Fintech Band LLC is owned not only by these three people - they have 14% each, but also by the ex-chair of the board of PrivatBank Alexander Dubilet with 30%, the former first deputy chairman of the bank Vladimir Yatsenko with 14%, the ex-treasurer and former deputy chairman bank Lyudmila Shmalchenko with 10% and former deputy chairman of the bank, responsible for risk management, Vadim Kovalev with a share of 4%).
AYA: Do you own the company in equal shares?
The company has more shareholders. Including former employees of Privatbank. But the three main partners who promote this business are us.
SK: Tell us about the iGov project.
This is a government services portal. We set ourselves the task of converting 100% of government services into electronic form. It all started two years ago when the war was raging. And each of us was looking for how to help the state. We formed a group of IT specialists, which included Dima Shymkiv, Yanika Merilo, and a number of other colleagues who globally decided to help the state with IT. I initially wanted to help with the purchase of computer programs.
AY: And Prozorro passed you by, right?
Prozorro is a great project, but it doesn't solve all problems.
The state wastes millions of grant and budget money on incompetent IT projects. And even with the advent of Prozorro, the situation does not get much better. Not because of rollbacks, but because of incorrect IT architectures. Prozorro makes the procurement process transparent, but does not influence the terms of purchase of programs for specific companies.
In general, it was not possible to help the state with IT purchases. We tried to advise, but this kind of procurement is the domain of the heads of IT departments, it was very difficult to talk to them. And then it turned out that within our group I started working on government services and transferring them to the Internet. And so iGov began.
We profess an evolutionary approach. One of the first services that launched was a police clearance certificate. Let us now leave aside how necessary this service is, how necessary this certificate is. But now you could order this certificate remotely. And when the certificate is ready, you come to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and pick up the certificate in paper form.
It turns out that in our unfortunate state this certificate is available only in paper form. And it doesn’t happen instantly. Because all these records are stored in the files of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We've simplified at least this step. Has it become more convenient? Yes.
SK: Did the Ministry of Internal Affairs agree with this?
Regional Ministry of Internal Affairs - yes. We launched in several regions as a “pilot”. The Central Ministry of Internal Affairs did not object. The next stage of evolution was to provide this certificate not only in paper form, but also electronically. That is, the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs also walked around, rummaging through their papers. But in the end, the piece of paper that was found was scanned, they put their electronic signature on it and sent it to the citizen. It turns out that the citizen did not go anywhere at all. He ordered the certificate and received it in electronic form. But inside this process was still medieval - in paper form.
We are now going through the next stage with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They transfer everything into an electronic register. All these pieces of paper are gradually being converted into electronic form. And at some point, I hope, we will be able to launch a service where when you make a request, it automatically goes to the registry and, without any human factor at all, a response to the citizen is automatically sent.
SK: Does the Ministry of Internal Affairs have any grants for converting all this into electronic form?
On the one hand, there are grants. On the other hand, we help. As far as I understand, the approach will be evolutionary. Those certificates that were ordered will gradually be added to the registers. That is, the entire 50-year-old archive will not be clogged.
Each public service is a separate war, a separate evolution. In this regard, we are lucky; we are more flexible than the state. The state usually deals with some fundamental things. Conditionally, it changes the Constitution. And we are launching services. Often there is no need to change the Constitution to launch an electronic government service. As a result, for 20 years we could not launch government services in electronic form, because all the time we were starting some kind of global reforms. And we are taking small steps, we say: look, the citizen got rid of one visit, and that’s good. And if from both visits, then even better. And when there will be an electronic registry, it will be a real dream.
SK: Maybe iGov has already surpassed systems in other countries?
My assessment is yes, it exceeded. Because they do not have such an acute problem of corruption. In some Germany, an official provides certificates. There are not many of these certificates, they are not needed so often. And therefore, when burghers (from the German Bürger, citizen - ed.) come to an official, he comfortably issues them a certificate and does not demand a bribe for this, does not require a photocopy of some meaningless form. Therefore, perhaps such a system is not so urgently needed there. And we need it. She screams that she is needed. We have a huge army of officials who, unfortunately, waste their talents on meaningless things.
AYA: You wanted to leave out the very need for such a police clearance certificate. But the issue cannot be avoided. Is it really more difficult to cancel this certificate than to do it electronically?
You are absolutely right. The fundamental approach should be that the state cannot demand from a citizen those statements that the state already has. All data must be in electronic form, and the citizen must only authorize access to it. This is the ideal world we strive for. Although this is not space technology. It's easy enough to do.
SK: The issue of personal data protection arises. You are a private project...
Our ultimate goal is for the state to take the iGov project on its balance sheet. We are in dialogue with the Ministry of Economic Development. We are still looking at which legal entity will accept it. Previously, because it is much faster, we are moving to the balance of the Dnepropetrovsk regional administration. But this does not mean that the service will not provide services in other areas. By law, if it is a local authority, it has the right to provide services throughout the country. This will be during the summer. And by the end of the year, we expect the Ministry of Economic Development to take iGov on its balance sheet.
OB: To what extent can the state be an effective owner of such a service?
There are different people in the state. For example, there is the Dnepropetrovsk regional administration. It's a pleasure to work with them.
OB: And there is the AP, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada, between which couriers still run with paper documents.
It's hard for me to say why they do this. But in the same AP there is Dima Shymkiv, with whom we speak absolutely the same language. We can implement electronic document management in the Cabinet of Ministers and the Administrative Office in a few months absolutely free of charge. It's quite simple.
OB: Is there a system for protecting classified documents?
Certainly. The issue of an Integrated Information Security System (ICSI) always faces new systems. But we understand how to obtain this CSII. It is also important with whom to dialogue. In the Cabinet of Ministers, we are conducting a dialogue with Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman and Stepan Kubiv. We communicate directly with Max Nefyodov. Again, it is very pleasant and comfortable to communicate with him. He has a successful experience with Prozorro, and I see no reason why he cannot repeat the successful experience with iGov.
OB: The functions of protecting information by the state are assigned to the SBU. Do you have a dialogue with them?
We haven’t encountered them yet, but we have experience interacting with the SBU. We built our system so that there were no problems with data protection.
AY: How many services do you already have? And will they be paid after they are transferred to the state?
iGov is made with very cool technologies that are very easy to maintain. This is the key difference between iGov and other systems our government is building. To launch a new service on iGov, you don't need to know how to program at all. An official needs a high, or even average, IQ. It takes a week of practice and he will be able to launch new services quite easily.
At the same time, every time our state tries to create a new service in electronic form, it performs some kind of separate act of programming, some developers are hired, and extravagant amounts of money are paid for this. Often the government spends the same amount on launching a separate service as we spent on the entire iGov.
I, of course, hope that after the transfer of iGov to the state, services in the system will not become paid.
AYA: What services are the most popular there now?
Receiving subsidies, child support, information about vehicle owners. We also launched services for registering SPD, closing SPD, registration and closure of legal entities. But after the legislation changed, we act only in a few areas. In Dnepropetrovsk and several others. There are services for marriage, divorce, and obtaining all kinds of certificates from the registry office. Of course, services for obtaining a foreign passport are incredibly popular now. Demand is much higher than supply, so now most often there are no free slots. But people set alarms for 5 am to catch a slot.
And there are a lot of local services that we are launching with city halls. Some form No. 3, form No. 2, certificates of family composition, permission to receive advertising, etc. There are more than 300 services on iGov, but there are only 20 all-Ukrainian services.
“In total, about 3 million hryvnia were spent on iGov”
OB: Let's look from the other side. You have created a monster that can turn into an element of global control over a citizen.
There is no goal to control anyone. And I hope that any suspicions will disappear when we transfer iGov to the balance of the state.
When I worked at the bank, it seemed to everyone that this was a conspiracy by Privatbank or its shareholders to conquer the market. Now I have left the bank, but the project continues to develop. And it turned out that this is not a Privatbank project.
That is, there are no double meanings in this project. Therefore, we calmly want to hand it over to the state.
OB: Do you think that the state cannot exercise such control? Or there were virus attacks, interference in the US elections. And here all human life is digitized. This is such a haven for attackers.
I remember well the conversations when we were developing Internet banking that cash was much more reliable. That on the Internet any hacker will steal your money. As someone who worked in the banking industry, I tell you that there are much fewer cases of such theft than cases of theft of money in cash.
Therefore, of course, conservative views exist. But the fears are completely unfounded. There are simply right or wrong business processes. The fact that, for example, a wave of raider attacks swept the country at one time is not a consequence of the availability of data in electronic form. This is a consequence of incorrect business processes. If your processes are structured correctly, then access in electronic form means much greater control and greater protection. Because there is a data bank where every action is saved, every login to the system is recorded, you can stop the operation at any time, unscrew it back. Digital technologies provide much greater protection compared to traditional tools. You just need to build the technology correctly.
AYA: You mentioned that some government departments spend more on one service than you spent on iGov. What amounts are we talking about, how are you going to compensate for them, where is the monetization?
I'm not going to return anything. iGov is a non-profit project. In total, about 3 million hryvnia were spent on it. Plus a huge number of volunteer man-hours who developed this project.
SK: How did you collect the money?
Initially, iGov did not have any budget. There were a large number of IT specialists who went to GitHub (a site for joint creation of programs - ed.) and developed the project according to the open source principle (open data - ed.).
At some point, we realized that we still need to involve people in the staff, because today there are volunteers, tomorrow they are gone. You cannot solve some large complex problems only with the help of volunteers. Now we have about 15 people on our staff, these include business analysts, developers, and developers. And we have a budget for salaries, which is formed from sponsors. Their logos are on the website. These are primarily IT companies. But the further from the launch of the project, the fewer sponsors there are. Because the sponsor once made a contribution, and then most often disappears. Although many continue to support the project, fortunately.
We created the iDoc service based on iGov, and offer it to government agencies free of charge. But we offer it to commercial companies for the money that goes to finance the project. This is not monetization, we are not trying to make a profit from this project. Neither I nor anyone else will ever make anything from iGov. The IDoc was created to allow iGov to grow and continue to offer free services to the government.
Fortunately, I have a place to earn money in my life. Making money from the state in our country is wrong.
AYA: Can you guarantee that you will lose access to all data when you transfer the service to the state?
Yes. We are transferring iGov to the state on the terms for which the state is ready. Of course, the protection of SBU information assumes that no external forces will be able to gain unauthorized access to these registers. Nobody makes any “back doors”.
OB: Still, how to secure the system from hackers?
Recruit smart people who will manage these systems.
OB: But even if the US intelligence services could not...
It wasn’t the intelligence service that suffered there, it was the Democratic Party that suffered, as far as I remember. What I heard about was mailbox hacking. Basic rules of digital hygiene. Phishing emails that some woodpecker clicked and became infected with the virus.
OB: What about interference in elections? And the latest examples with viruses? What to do, how to deal with this?
The world is moving in the right direction. Ten years ago no one talked about online security at all; now all IT systems care about security. Another thing is that this is now being discussed more. It seems to me that every year it gets safer.
OB: The system at nuclear power plants was recently hacked, and it’s actually scary. What if the entire state management system is online?
Our data today is less secure in paper form.
SK: What technologies will be in demand in 10 years?
Technologies are developing so quickly that making any long-term forecasts is an absolutely thankless task. Maybe in 10-20 years the point of singularity will come, and all this will not make sense. The point of singularity, when computers, supercomputers will have the main importance on earth, and people will be the same appendage to these computers as our pets are now an appendage to us.
But as for government administration itself, I really hope that in three or four years absolutely all points of contact with the government will move to the Internet. And this will almost automatically solve the problems of corruption, inconvenience, and labor efficiency. I'm sure this will happen much faster than we think.