More than 350 experts from 14 regions of Russia took part in the first Smart Solutions Lab of Smarteka during the workshop on the implementation of this platform held in Kazan on August 6-7.

Specialists were divided into three groups by sections: Housing, Support of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, and Demography and Social Support. Over two days, they presented, discussed, and improved the regions' best practices to eventually create "smart solutions" for Smarteka.

According to Alexander Pirozhenko, Deputy General Director of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), the practices presented by experts "may and need to be replicated" to ensure the fulfillment of the tasks set by the President Vladimir Putin as part of the Decree 'On National Goals and Strategic Tasks of the Development of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2024'.

Thus, Bashkortostan presented for Smarteka the draft mechanism of cumulative mortgage that will stimulate people to save for a down payment. The participants of the For Life movement proposed a project of the international and regional festivals of "a new demographic paradigm" for the "reset" of families, as well as business persons and officials responsible for the country's demographic policy. In addition, they told about the active ageing centers that enable senior citizens to live a full life.

Representatives from the Orenburg Region described how, at the premises of a closed health resort, a socially oriented non-commercial organization had created the recreation and education center Gorod Detstva that hosts 3 thous. children in summer. Moreover, session participants presented such projects as the business accelerator (Udmurtia), the single loan center (Tatarstan), and the investment development of municipalities through resetting councils for the development of small and medium-sized businesses (Nizhny Novgorod Region).

According to Indira Kindeeva, Deputy Minister of Economy of Tatarstan, obtaining and replicating practices would have a positive impact on the development of Russian regions. "In consideration of the work load and pace of life, creating such platform [Smarteka] will lead us to the maximum desirable results. The need for digitalizing our "smart solutions" and achievements is plain to see," Indira Kindeeva noted at the lab. According to her, the republic had the need for breakthroughs and, therefore, the authorities of the constituent entity were also searching for the best "smart solutions".

In addition, experts discussed the availability of the necessary services, functions, and tools to be contained in Smarteka. Thus, on August 7, groups made reports on their vision of the processes of creating Smarteka: from stimulating platform users and project owners to barriers and the ways to bypass them.

For instance, among requirements for Smarteka, the representatives of the Demography and Social Support group cited the remunerations to the owners of projects for their implementation, the creation of a mobile application for the platform, and its promotion on third-party channels.

Moreover, specialists proposed to catalog projects by areas, spheres, fields, and problematics and make the registration with the platform free of charge. At the same time, the participants of the group Support of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses assumed the introduction at the platform of paid accounts with three levels: basic, extended (official), and commercial (for ministries, agencies, and organizations).

According to experts from that group, Smarteka would need to provide users with the list of the regions successfully fulfilling any given tasks so that other constituent entities could take their solutions for implementation. In particular, users would need to be provided with the data on the budget, owner, expected outcome, and finance scheme of the project. At the same time, Smarteka would need to contain the information on the grants and competitions of federal importance that might be used by the regions to finance their projects.

For their part, the representatives of the Housing group pointed out the importance of feedback at various stages of work on the project: both when elaborating the project for publication in Smarteka and after project introduction. According to them, each practice would need to have its social and economic rating of introduction, as well as the rank system that would make it possible to learn about demand for "smart solutions". In addition, experts believe that mentorship and the introduction of best practices must be carried out with the participation of Smarteka itself.

Speaking of possible barriers, session participants named legal framework and difficulties in registering and working with the platform's website, as well as in promoting the practices. To solve those problems, they proposed to ensure the high technological support of Smarteka, perform preliminary legal expertise, place requests for specific practices, and involve the ASI's support. The Agency took into account all proposals of specialists and will also take part in improving the regions' best practices.