Siberian Federal University joins Interfax program "Digital Technologies for Education and Science"

The Siberian Federal University (SFU) has become a participant of Interfax's Universities Program "Digital Technologies for Education and Science."

Interfax and SFU signed a cooperation agreement aimed at the introduction of a digital system of information analysis developed by Interfax in the university's educational process and scientific work.

"I welcome the initiative of the news agency aimed at the introduction of new technologies in education. I am sure that it will help institutions of higher learning participating in the Project 5-100 to carry out all tasks of increasing the quality of education and expect that other Siberian universities will join the Interfax program," presidential envoy in the Siberian Federal District Sergei Menyailo said.

"The Siberian Federal University is our long-standing partner and we are glad that SFU became a member of the Interfax Universities Program. We hope that the expansion of our academic cooperation will open up new opportunities for the professional development of SFU students and scientific personnel," Interfax CEO Mikhail Komissar said.

"Digital transformation is a key task facing the Siberian Federal University. We are planning to guarantee the transition of basic processes to digital technologies. The transformation should also inevitably affect the contents of education. Thus, the introduction of digital systems and tools in the educational process will promote the development of the practical skills of students in information analysis and monitoring," SFU Rector Maxim Rumyantsev said.

Presently SFU is successfully applying the SPARK-Interfax system in its educational programs. Namely, the SFU School of Business Management and Economics has been using the system for nine years already.

"Our School specializes in industry and regional economy. We have to conduct comparative and strategic analysis of global and regional commodity markets, evaluate the internal potential and conduct market positioning, and such services as SPARK are indispensable in these cases. It is equally needed by students working on graduation qualification papers and writing under master's thesis and instructors working under scientific grants," School Director Zoya Vasilyeva said.

The Siberian Federal University established in November 2006 through the unification of five leading colleges in Krasnoyarsk is presently the biggest institution of higher learning in eastern Russia. It combines a high standard of fundamental and applied research with training personnel for high tech production and small business. SFU comprises 21 specialized colleges with 160 bachelor's and master's programs. It trains almost 30,000 students and employs about 3,000 faculty members, with doctors and candidates of science constituting a big part.

In the popularity of graduates among employers, SFU belongs to the top 10 in Russia. The university has about 100 agreements with strategic partner employers. Employers are paying 315 personal scholarships.

Over the past 30 years, the Interfax Group has been developing information and analytical systems to analyze the business activity of companies, to manage credit and tax risks, conduct media monitoring and to learn how to work with Big Data. Applying these skills and knowledge for the development of education and science is an important aspect of a company's social responsibility.

Interfax works closely with leading Russian higher educational institutes and helps them to integrate unique databases and IT solutions into the educational process in order to train professionals with essential practical skills that are highly sought after on the labor market.