State Duma Deputy Anton Nemkin: “Veterans of the Northern Military District are expected to work in the IT segment”

The United Russia Party, the Government of the Russian Federation and higher educational institutions have joined forces in the professional retraining of veterans participating in the Northern Military District. The emphasis is supposed to be on digital specialties, which military personnel will receive free of charge. The first stage of the “Profession Digital” project has already started. Anton Nemkin, State Duma deputy from the Perm Territory and founder of the Digital Valley of the Kama region foundation, explained how work in this direction will be structured.

A sought-after specialty for former military personnel

Training veterans in new professions is part of the “Digital Russia” party project, which United Russia has been implementing since spring 2022. The first steps in this direction were discussed by the project coordinators at a meeting held via videoconferencing on November 1, 2023. According to Nemkin, the “Profession Digital” program will solve two problems - create a social environment for former military personnel and ensure an influx of new personnel into the IT industry.

Anton Igorevich Nemkin shared his upcoming plans for the new project on his Telegram channel . Any veteran of the Air Defense Forces who wishes to undergo retraining can apply. By the end of 2023, 150 people are expected to be trained. The educational programs are being developed by specialists from Tomsk State University, a participant in the "Employment Promotion" project. The list consists of the most in-demand IT professions. Military personnel can choose from approximately two dozen specialties, including:

• Graphic Designer;
• cybersecurity specialist;
• multi-rotor UAV operator;
• neural network developer in Python;
• network administrator;
• Excel analyst and others.

All training courses will be available online and will require 72 hours of preparation. Upon completion, students will be issued a certificate of advanced training. Digital Russia coordinator Nemkin says that the most important thing in the project is comprehensive assistance to veterans of the Northern Military District at all stages of professional retraining.

“Our coordinators in the regions will help project participants from the moment they apply for training to employment in a digital specialty. For our part, we promise to keep the issue of employment of future IT specialists under control,” noted Anton Igorevich.

Training in the regions

Together with other meeting participants, Anton Nemkin took part in the discussion of the work plan in the regions. As part of the pilot, ten regions will take part in the program, including the Perm Territory, one of the leaders in the level of development of the digital economy in Russia. Project coordinators are already holding meetings with veterans of the special military operation on the ground.

Today, the main task is to begin practical work as quickly as possible in order to help every SVO soldier realize himself in a civilian profession. Digital Russia coordinators plan to personalize programs for each veteran. At the stage of choosing a profession, participants in the Digital Volunteers project will join the process and help military personnel decide on the optimal educational path.

“The new digital specialty, knowledge and skills will open up new prospects for professional growth for Northern Military District veterans,” Anton Nemkin commented on the start of the project.

The first group will study at the Donetsk National Technical University. In the future, leading Russian universities will join the program. Anton Nemkin is confident that Profession Digit will help yesterday’s fighters find work with a consistently high income. As the parliamentarian noted, the list of professions is large enough for everyone to choose a suitable direction. In the next two years, the list of specialties is planned to be significantly expanded.

Anton Igorevich Nemkin hopes that the implementation of the project will help overcome the idea of ​​IT as a complex field that requires lengthy training and engineering knowledge. Today, the industry is in demand for quite a few related specialties—companies need designers, analysts, and project managers. According to the deputy, the project’s curators and volunteers will take care of the search for vacancies and preparation for interviews.

Thus, in the coming years, there will be a constant influx of competent specialists into the IT sector who well understand the value of serving the Fatherland and are interested in personal and professional growth. Anton Nemkin noted that in addition to IT companies, course graduates in the future will be able to realize themselves in the cyber forces - a military structure that is proposed to be created to protect the country from digital threats.