On September 26, 2024, a representative of the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmytro Grigorenko, who oversees the IT industry, informed the media that the Russian government would consider a proposal to grant the title of “Honored IT Worker.”

“We confirm that the letter has been received by the government apparatus. It will be considered in accordance with the established procedure,” Hryhorenko, a representative of the apparatus, told the media.

The Ministry of Digital also received a letter from ARVP “Native Software”. “We already have the award “Honored Communication and Information Worker of the Russian Federation”, and we have been discussing with the industry for a long time the introduction of a similar title for workers in the field of information technologies. We are currently discussing the implementation of such an initiative,” a representative of the department told the media.

Experts believe that the approval of such a state award emphasizes the importance of the IT industry in Russia.

“The establishment of a separate title for IT specialists speaks of the recognition of information technologies as an independent and significant industry in the modern economy of Russia,” Lyudmila Bogatyreva, the head of the IT department of the Polilog agency, told the media. Because now IT is “a strategically important industry that significantly affects many aspects of life,” Bogatyreva explained.

The title of “Honored Worker” is available in almost every professional field – in railways, construction, and education, added Mykhailo Srodnykh, General Director of SKB Kontur. In his opinion, in this sense, the initiative to assign a title in the IT industry deserves the support of the industry. At the same time, there should be a drop-out rate: if every second person receives the title, then its honor and value will be questionable, according to Srodnykh. A consultative council under the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which would include representatives of the largest IT companies, industry associations, as well as educational institutions that train personnel, could provide titles, Srodnykh clarified.

The title “Honored IT Worker” can be awarded to developers, engineers, architects, testers, analysts, project managers and other specialists who work in the field of information technologies and contribute to the development of this industry, Mykhailo, Deputy General Director for Scientific Work of Sisoft Development, told the media. Bocharov.

On the other hand, developers and those involved in the IT field are not used to “non-monetary incentives” and probably will not particularly perceive such a distinction at a high level. The head of Content Review Serhii Polovnikov expressed doubts about the need for titles if they do not carry any preferences, bonuses and other benefits. “There are no non-monetary incentives in IT. If a person is ready to work for free, he usually does not work in IT,” Polovnikov told the media.

In terms of awarding the title of meritorious employee of the IT industry, many employees of the companies interviewed by the media converged. Such a person should actively participate in the creation, implementation or improvement of Russian software. “You can reward for the number of lines of software code written: for example, he wrote 10 million lines – and became an honored IT employee. Or keep a count of the number of sold licenses for one or another Russian software product – and award a prize for overcoming a certain bar. Or another option is to reward those who spent the minimum number of working hours in the office,” ComNews CEO Leonid Konik suggested ironically.

Earlier, the Association of Software Product Developers (ARPP) “Native Software” offered the government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Digital Affairs to introduce in Russia the honorary title “Honored Worker of Information Technologies of the Russian Federation” as part of a non-monetary incentive for the development of software products.

As specified in ARPP, currently Russian developers are conducting large-scale work on improving the quality and “maturity” of domestic software products, taking into account feedback from users and in accordance with the requirements of Russian security legislation. For the purpose of non-material encouragement of industry leaders, ARPP considers it important to introduce the honorary title “Honored Worker of Information Technologies of the Russian Federation”.

In the Russian Federation, there is an honorary title “Honored Worker of Communications and Information of the Russian Federation”, which is awarded to highly professional employees of communications, mass media and mass communications for personal merit, as a rule, no earlier than 20 years after the start of professional activity and if the person presented for the award has sectoral awards (incentives) of federal state authorities or state authorities of subjects of the Russian Federation.