The total scope of the program of state support for the information technologies branch in Russia, which is currently being developed by the Ministry for Information Technologies and Communications...

The total scope of the program of state support for the information technologies branch in Russia, which is currently being developed by the Ministry for Information Technologies and Communications together with some other interested departments in accordance with task given by the President of the RF, may amount to nearly 500 million dollars, Dmitry Alexandrovich Milivantsev, Deputy Minister for Information Technologies and Communications, stated at his meeting with students and lecturers of the State University – Higher School of Economics.

He informed that the intended effect of the program realization involved bringing the Russian IT market volume to 30-40 billion dollars per year by 2010-2015.

The Deputy Minister noted that the major avenues of the developed program of state support of the IT branch in Russia involve perfection of legislation, organization of IT techno parks, development of the system of professional training for IT branch specialists, backing of the entrance of the Russian IT companies to the international market, creation of a specialized venture fund for the development of information technologies.

At the first stage of the fund operation its volume may amount to nearly 100 million dollars. D. A. Milivantsev stressed that the state should act as the initiator for the creation of such a venture fund at the initial stage. Later on commercial companies are also to join the activity of the fund actively.