Geographers know Yakutia (also called Republic of Sakha) for its low temperatures, commonly dipping below −35 °C in winter, its capital Yakutsk being the world’s coldest large city. Economists and businessmen are aware of its considerable wealths in terms mineral exploitation, with a focus on diamond, gold, and tin ore mining industries. But Yakutia has also engaged on the road to technology development, with notable achievements in terms of Internet infrastructure and first steps in the field of startup development. The region even gave birth to a unicorn: InDriver, a ride-hailing app founded in Yakutsk back in 2012.
In an exchange with East-West Digital News on the sidelines of the Open Innovations event in early December, Aysen Nikolayev, the head of this republic, commented on these developments and shared his vision of Yakutia’s technological future.
Yakutia is mostly known for its natural resources. Why develop information technologies and tech innovation?
In size, our enormous territory can be compared to India. The complex transport infrastructure and severe climate conditions put Yakutia at a disadvantage in terms of socio-economic development when compared with the majority of Russian regions. We’re not creating and developing new technologies and digital services for the sake of being trendy: it is an actual, real-life necessity.
Natural conditions create here a kind of logistics nightmare. Throughout the year, while most of Yakutia’s territory is cut off from the mainland, transportation issues put Yakut goods at a disadvantage in the market. But in field of IT, the transport component is negligible: this is one of the reasons why we regard it as a growth driver.
On the other hand, we understand that the huge amount of locally available natural resources must not only support the growth of traditional extractive industries, but also be a driving force for other economic areas. We are willing to make the most of Yakutia’s opportunities and advantages: large industrial companies, while generating well-paid jobs and providing the local government with important tax revenues, are shaping a new environment to develop other industries, including the IT industry.
Yakutia’s one million inhabitants are spread across a territory of more than 3 million sq. km. Nevertheless you want to make fast Internet available to all. How do you do that?
It is of utmost importance for us to overcome digital setback in remote locations and ensure that the people of our republic have an access to fast Internet and quality connection. Today, 92% of the population has an access to high-speed internet, including 1,385 online-enabled social facilities. Outside large cities, fiber-optic connection is available in a number of underpopulated settlements, particularly in Kyndal and Uorgu of Churapchinsky District. Each of them has a population of just around 50 people.
In December 2020, for the first time, we made fiber-optic connection available beyond the polar circle, in the Olenyoksky district. Now we are planning to bring online the shore of the Arctic Ocean. Areas that are as of now technically impossible to reach will be connected to the Internet via satellite.
In the course of this year, we had a record number of connections. Over 3,000 km of optic fiber were used with almost 70 localities connected. The most important objective here is to overcome the digital setback, we are trying to create an equally available access to the state, banking, educational, and other online services for all inhabitants of our republic.
The number of Yakut school graduates wishing to pursue degrees in IT is growing fast — it seemingly almost tripled this year. Why is IT becoming so popular?
Ever since the Soviet times, Yakutia has had a strong school of mathematics. I am a graduate of a rural school with advanced study of physics and mathematics, which had only a few counterparts in the entire Soviet Union. Today, the Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University is still developing the potential of young Yakuts gifted in the field of exact sciences.
Over the last two decades, Yakutia saw new generations come to IT. Some created IT companies or startups, offering products which are now in demand both in Russia and abroad. Many Yakuts are inspired by their example.
What’s more, we have created an environment to make these opportunities more accessible and support IT people. The North-Eastern Federal University and IT Park Yakutsk are there to facilitate the launch and development of projects in various ways.
The IT park, for example, features a biotechnical laboratory, a regional engineering center, a high-tech park, and an office in the city of Neryungri. Young startups will be able to take part in its B8 acceleration programs.
Yakuts are taught to code since school, as we are aiming create a pool of local IT professionals. Since 2016, we have held a contest, “IT is my profession,” for school and university students. This year, a record number of kids from all over the republic, more than 1,500, participated in the event.
We’re aiming to increase the number of IT professionals to up to 10,000 by 2024 — several times more than today.
In which areas do you think startups will develop?
The range is considerable. Right now, we are betting on the development of creative industries, biotechnologies, and medicine. For example, this past November, our scientists managed to register Betukladin, a medicine, which according to clinical trials shows good results in prevention and rehabilitation after such serious diseases as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and Covid-19.
There is also the ANEFU project, where scientists are developing a biodegradable and biocompatible material, which can be used in skin transplantation. Meanwhile, AI-powered solutions to detect various pathologies on CT scans were developed by a company from the IT Park: they are now implemented in the local healthcare system. These are just examples, we have many other teams and projects working on solutions to address pressing matters.
InDriver, a startup born in Yakutia, turned into a global unicorn. Would share a few other startup success stories?
Indeed, InDriver is not the only international success. Game developers MyTona and Fntastic are other examples. We watched them grow up: they are regularly making foreign charts. With the majority of our startups targeting the global market from the very start, I have no doubt we’ll soon hear about new successes.
What would you like to say to investors from outside Yakutia to attract them?
The key advantage probably lies in the combination of Yakutia’s natural resources, its level of scientific and technological development, and the significant support offered by the administration. Since 2014, we have enacted special tax and legal conditions for businesses.
Our current investment policy is based on the notion of minimizing the tax burden until it starts making profit and during the subsequent 5-10 years. This significantly increases profitability and return on investment. Besides, we have two active ‘priority development zones’ where residents receive benefits in a simplified way.
However, the most important thing in Yakutia is the people, and their openness to new ideas and solutions. We are the leader among other Far Eastern region in IT service export (accounting for 85 % of the regional output). Without human capital, we would have been unlikely to achieve such a result.
- Aysen Sergeyevich Nikolayev (Yakut: Сэргэй уола Ньукулаайап Айыы Сиэн) was born in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, in 1972, to a family of teachers. At the age of 16, he graduated from a physics and mathematics school with a gold medal. He studied physics at the Moscow State University, before receiving a degree in financial management from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. He entered politics after a corporate career (AOZT SAPI Center, Almazergienbank). He became Minister of Finance of Yakutia in 2004; then headed the Presidential Administration and Government of Yakutia in 2007. In 2011, he was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the Government of Yakutia; the next year he headed the administration of the city district of Yakutsk; then became Yakutsk mayor in 2017. In 2018, by the Decree of the Russian President, Nikolayev was appointed as the acting Head of the Sakha Republic, then was elected Head of the Sakha Republic, gaining 71.40% of the votes cast in that year’s elections (source: Wikipedia)
