Slava’s choice as the first interview in 2020 was determined by several reasons. First, it’s time to get out of the line of summing up and take up plans and forecasts. The second - it’s comfortable to climb out of the “Olivier” state with Slava. You just need to start a conversation, and then just have time to record.

According to the plan, we were going to talk about three forecasts for IT for 2020, pessimistic, optimistic and real one. But at the very beginning I said that IoT (Internet of Things) somehow failed and the interview went on by itself.

Slava, have you noticed that the Internet of things somehow did not materialize?

You see the problems of the Internet of “private” things. Yes, in the case of personal use, there are still a lot of problems ranging from security to standard operating protocols. But you don’t see what is happening in industry. And in industry, in developed countries, “smart things” are gaining ground. For example, have you heard about digital twin technologies, digital twins of things, like their models?

Tell me about them...

Let’s examine the automotive industry. Any modern car passes a series of crash tests before release. Dozens of cars were previously crashed, and obviously this is quite expensive. Now, only one car stuffed with sensors is crashed, and then its digital twin is crashed. If the discrepancy between the indicators is no more than 2 percent, then only twins are further crashed. It’s clear that at the moment it’s easier to work with “smart things” in production, than to put sensors in your jacket, as this will cause a lot of questions, even legal ones, of personal data protection, for example.

Then, the future of Moldova, which does not shine with advanced production, is more and more pessimistic?

Oddly enough, both yes and no. In the modern world, to be a leader, one does not have to be a giant. Resource constraints are very relative. If you need large amounts of computing, you don’t need to have a data centre, you can just connect to the cloud. Now every day brings new opportunities and you can get involved in their development. For such a small country like Moldova, becoming a “pilot” country is a great opportunity.

Let’s speak more specifically. Since every day brings new opportunities, it means that there were opportunities in both 2016 and 2017, and even in the past year. What cases could Moldova have in these years? It will be easier for me personally to understand if you are talking about a “pilot” country...

Look here. In the wake of the “hype” of blockchain, Moldova could well become the first country in the world to switch business processes of public administration to blockchain technology. Moreover, there was a moment when, within such transformations, one could conduct an ICO and attract real money to such a project. Technologically it was quite possible. Now, for example, China has began to do this, I wrote more about it here. The problem lies only in the legislation. This is not a matter of technology, but of officials.

But the “hype” of blockchain was anyway blown away...

This is normal for any new technology, they usually develop along the  Gartner’s maturity curve, which describes the technology’s transition to maturity. Blockchain now fits well into a number of logistic processes that it perfectly serves. But Moldova would attract the attention of the whole world. With our budget of several billion dollars, we are like a pocket affiliate for any large technology company like Google or Microsoft. After such a project, they might become interested in working with us...

Well, it’s accepted as an example. Give another case, but not so revolutionary one, if possible.

Not so revolutionary? Then a case that we haven’t missed yet and which is very interesting to me personally. Representative democracy in its digital implementation.

Online elections?

Not elections, as too many legal issues will arise again. Let it be an online survey system with the possibility to delegate the decision to opinion leaders in order to get more informed decisions when a professional assessment is required.

Explain.

Let’s suppose that you are conducting a survey related, for example, to the construction of a large facility with complex communications. If a grandmother or a young man aged over 18 votes in a survey, then the decision can be, frankly, populist. Like “let's build a metro in Chisinau?”. Let's build, without considering whether it is possible or not.

And what do you propose?

You can absolutely transparently transmit your votes to experts or opinion leaders who will already make a much more balanced decision. Such technologies could be easily implemented. Or imagine a massive crowd funding for local projects. The mayor’s office announces that it has 10 or 20 percent for some kind of land improvement project, and the rest of the money shall be raised by people. Not only those living in the country, but also the diaspora. Then Forbes, instead of covering the theft of a billion in Moldova, would write several times a year about the digital revolution in a small European country.

But all this bumps up not even against technology, but against officials...

Yes, I become pessimistic at this point too. There is no critical mass of managers in the country willing and able to think about modern categories. It is clear that this is coupled with of the issue of risks for the official. An innovation was submitted to him for consideration, but he has no experience, there are no EU directives. The Court of Audit will come tomorrow and say that he squandered the money. It’s easier then not to make any innovative decisions at all. The matter is not only about risks, but also about knowledge. Do you know that I would necessarily introduce for our officials?

What?

An online exam on a list of at least 10 books about the modern world. Starting with Klaus Schwab, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution”. And “The Inevitable Inevitable”, of which you have now began to make an abstract. And with Nassim Taleb. I would also make public the results of the exam.

Did your teaching at university impact you?

Pavel. We cannot stop otherwise the outflow of young and talented people from the country. What I can say about Chisinau and IT specialists, I visited yesterday in Vulcanesti one of the new winemaking chateaux. And they complained that there is nobody to work. There is no one in terms of qualification, no one even physically. Simply no one. We are talking about roads, we are collecting money to build these roads, but after 20 years there will be no one to ride on them and there will be no income tax to pay off debts for roads.

Let's go back to positive things. In any situation, you can build a plan to get out of the situation. Well, not everything is hopeless. You know that since the adoption of the laws on 7 percent for the IT industry and the creation of an IT park, the IT industry in Moldova has gone up. So, are there any resources for its growth?

There are still resources.

Then what’s your plan? We can say that the New Year's holidays have not yet passed. You can dream a little. Without restrictions, which Moldovan officials can impose. What’s your program?

Well, this is not a program, but a direction. Take a closer look at the Estonians. What did they do? They aren’t able to cope with a large project on their own. It’s a small country. They are negotiating with the British Government to become, in fact, an “IT department” for government IT services and services in the UK.

And you suggest...

If we don’t have a self-sufficient strategy in Moldova, then we can still get involved into someone’s technological strategy. It doesn’t matter whether Germany is focused on robotics; it turns out that the Moldovan children’s team won the World Robotics Championship, or has beaten Google with its tasks. In general, I’d introduce a new position in Moldova, IT Ambassador, whose tasks would be to negotiate with leading technology companies in the world on cooperation with Moldova. What else... I’d more boldly introduce new technologies in the country on the principle of renting services in the framework of public-private partnership. Even if the state has no money and qualifications to develop complex systems. Such investments can be made by IT companies, while solutions can be leased out to the state. It’s clear that we are not talking about the main state registers, such as registers of population, real estate, vehicles, as they are the prerogative of the state.

Who can initiate such programs?

At least the ATIC, the President of which I am...

To encourage you, I commit myself to write about these initiatives...

Do you know, what else you have to write about...

About what?

About the fact that now, in addition to the GDP, the rating of countries is measured by means of the economic complexity index of the country. This rating shows the complexity and uniqueness of a country's exports as the basis of its economic stability. In other words, the GDP is a static indicator, and the economic complexity index of a country is dynamic; it shows the prospects of the economy and does not depend on the size of the country. According to this criterion, the Czech Republic ranks the 6th in the world, and the US ranks the 12th. So, Moldova hasn’t lost all for sure.

Well, I saw a publication about this on your Facebook account. It will be easier just to give the link. Here it is

Pavel Zingan