2300 by 2030
(All links to Russian news sources are run through Google Translate to present them in English.)
With the isolation of Russia now a hard fact, the government is pushing hard to replace Western technology. I suppose it is an aspiration resurrected from the Soviet era, when communism ran all things centrally.
On the CAD side of things, we learn from isiscad that the goal is “to develop about 2,300 import-substituting CAD and PLM engineering programs by 2030”-- a goal as laughable as “30 by 30” (30% of the world’s surface being protected by 2030) or “100% by 2035” (100% electric cars sold by 2035.) Cnews, which reported the bulletin, notes that this pace would require programmers to churn out one significant CAD/PLM program every day.
This news item tells me the desperation of the Russian government, which also last week announced it would spare no expense to assist the army in its illegal invasion of the sovereign country of Ukraine. On the other hand, the announcement reassures Russian programming houses that they will be receiving significant government financial assistance, “a colossal amount of unconditionally-demanded work for the next seven years” -- assuming the state does not run out of funds with which to make these payments or collapses the economy with hyperinflation.
- - -
The goal is odd, given that Russia already has a significant number of significant CAD systems of its own, albeit mostly in MCAD, given Russia’s industrial history. Names of mature CAD and PLM systems, some which have been around since the early 1990s, include the following ones:
Vendor CAD PLM
ASCON Group KOMPAS-3D LOTSMAN:PLM
NanoSoft nanoCAD ...
Top Systems T-FLEX T-FLEX PLM
LOTSMAN:PLM from ASCON Group
In the past decade, several Russian efforts at new CAD and PLM programs have crashed and burned, such as Dexma cloud-based PLM, due to too much competition from Western firms. Perhaps the government’s new program will help revive some of them.
Given the emphasis on self-sufficiency, it should come as no surprise to us that a popular topic in Russian CAD publications is how to transition from top-seller-in-Russia Solidworks to made-in-Russia KOMPAS-3D. Here are some such articles:
- What will users face when switching from SolidWorks to KOMPAS-3D (14 tutorials) by Sergey Kishkin
KOMPAS-3D vs SolidWorks (discussion of the differences) by Leonid Platonov- Difficulties of transition from CAD to CAD (industry overview) by David Levin
Steps are also being taken on the BIM side of things to replace market-dominating Autodesk, such as What to do if Autodesk BIM 360 no longer works? Transfer project data to Vitro-CAD.
These replacement strategies are due to companies like Dassault Systemes and Autodesk exiting Russia. Rather than punishing Russian design firms (well, it is, in the short term), the Western exodus is giving a huge financial boost to native Russian CAD firms.
- - -
Yet.
In a report from the Russian ministry for digital development, we learn that about 100,000 programmers have left the country and not returned, representing "up to" 10% of the total work force. On the other hand, 80% of those who left apparently continue to work for Russian companies, but remotely. The ministry recommended that those who left not be punished so that they continue working for Russian firms, and not switch their allegiance to Western ones.
Those who left headed for countries still accessible from Russia: Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates.
Armenia seems to be the new hot spot. In recent months, the Open Design Alliance (from the USA, but which relies on Russian programmers) and LEDAS Group (located originally in Russia) have each opened an office in Armenia.
Comments