Interfax, St. Petersburg State University of Economics start cooperation on education, science

The Interfax Group and the St. Petersburg State University of Economics (UNECON) signed an agreement at the Interfax Group's press center in St. Petersburg on Wednesday to cooperate in implementing Interfax's IT systems in the university's educational processes and research activities.

UNECON faculty and students will have the opportunity to work with the SPARK system, which contains information on the operations of all business entities in Russia and some Commonwealth of Independent States member countries. This data is aggregated from more than 100 sources, including reporting from companies themselves, information on their participation in tenders, judicial proceedings, and intellectual property. Students will also have access to the SCAN (Interfax's Comprehensive News Analysis System) media environment analysis system.

"It's gratifying to note that one of the oldest economics universities in this country, marking the 90th anniversary of its founding this year, is the first in St. Petersburg to join Interfax's university program 'Digital Technologies for Education and Science.' We hope that our informational and analytical resources will foster the professional growth of students and will qualitatively complement the research toolkit of the university's researchers and lecturers," Interfax Board Chairman and CEO Mikhail Komissar said.

"This is a very important agreement for the research and educational process in our university. Employing Interfax's services will enable users to analyze numerous situations in business processes requiring managerial decisions based on practical examples, to acquire good analytical skills, which are so essential in making balanced decisions in the economy and financial field, and to enhance the professional training level of specialists," UNECON Dean Igor Maksimtsev said.

The agreement envisions the organization of joint scientific and practical conferences, seminars, roundtables, studies, and expert reviews using the SCAN and SPARK systems.

Over the past 30 years, the Interfax Group has developed 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.

This past April, Interfax announced the launch of the university program 'Digital Technologies for Education and Science,' within which, Interfax has been actively developing cooperation with leading Russian universities and helping integrate unique databases and advanced IT solutions in their educational process to train professionals who possess practical skills that are in high demand on the labor market.

The St. Petersburg State University of Economics was founded in 2012 through a merger of three leading economics educational institutions in St. Petersburg, i.e., the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance, the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Engineering, and the St. Petersburg State University of Services and Economics. It is one of Russia's largest universities and a leader in economics education.

The unified university has retained scientific schools, innovative curricula, advanced education techniques, educational and research potential, and the best Soviet and Russian educational traditions.

More than 12,000 students from Russia and foreign countries currently studying at UNECON are pursuing bachelor, specialist, master, and PhD programs, as well as secondary professional education programs.