Why digital transformation and collaboration are key for governments

Digital innovation isn’t just for businesses – governments need to innovate and collaborate to remain relevant for their people.

Standing at the historic Red Square in Moscow, Dmitry Peresvetov, EY alumnus, and Chief Accountant and Head of Shared Services at Rostelecom, talks about the changes brought about by Russia’s advancements in digital. “If we look back, just in five years, we can say that Russia has made a great step toward digital transformation,” he says.

Traditionally, the Russian economy has relied on legacy resources such as energy. However, Dmitry sees a better future for Russia in digital. Efforts by the government to digitalize its services has already reduced queue lengths at government offices, democratized the internet and made banking easier.

Rostelecom’s contributions to this transformation have been around developing digital infrastructure as part of the Digital Economy program. This program aims to introduce digital into every aspect of the economy, build a core 5G network and also improve digital connectivity in rural areas. “Rostelecom sees its goal as providing people with every telecom service at every point of our big country,” he says, adding that the success of Russia’s digital transformation initiative is because of its people.

Collaboration is the new innovation

“I am proud of my country … I live here, and I couldn't be living in any other. But … 'Could it be faster? Could there be more changes here in Russia?' Yes.”

In a world that is more globalized than ever before, the progress of one country can be driven by the technologies and ideas from another. Russia’s success in digital, according to Dmitry, will depend on how open it can be to the rest of the world. The key, Dmitry says, is to “innovate with other countries, with other people. We should do it together.”

Efforts by the Russian government to digitalize its services has reduced queue lengths at government offices, democratized the internet and made banking easier. In this interview, Dmitry Peresvetov, EY alumnus, and Chief Accountant and Head of Shared Services at Rostelecom, talks about how the country’s economy can shed its dependence on legacy resources such as energy and move toward emerging resources such as digital.