Chapter Profile: Russia—70 Years of Computer Science

POSTED BY on 10.19.2017

Seventy years ago in the halls of the Academy of Sciences, the Soviet Union took its initial steps in the field of computer science (informatika in Russian). Such names as Bruk, Markov and Kolmogorov were among those leading the way with the development of the first Soviet electronic digital computer and research into the theory of algorithms and computable functions.

Since then the successor countries to the Soviet Union have made great strides in the field. Russia, in particular, has excelled in the science and built an industry on its strong academic foundation. Today, Russia’s software industry alone stands at more than 30 billion dollars. Likewise, IT outsourcing shows strong growth potential.

IEEE Computer Society’s Russia chapter plays an important role in the development of the sector by creating a connection between professionals in the country and around the world. Started in 2011, when the Russian computer industry began to take off, the chapter has been working to grow and publicize the latest tech trends and methodologies through conferences, meetings, and publications.

The Russia chapter chair, Aleksandr Tormasov, has served since 2014, is the rector of the University of Innopolis, head of the department at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and chief scientist at the company Parallels.

Between October 3 and 5, the chapter took a step back to look at its past and potential for the future with the 2017 Fourth International Conference on Computer Technology in Russia and in the Former Soviet Union (SORUCOM), which was sponsored by IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. The conference, conducted in both Russian and English, touched upon these topics and more:

  • Early computers
  • programming languages and systems in retrospective
  • microelectronics industry emergence
  • computer science curricula
  • teamwork in programming
  • key events in computing history
  • scientific biographies
  • computing perspectives
  • international cooperation in R&D

On subject of the the field’s development in Russia, Dr. Tormasov, explained, “The history of IT development in Russia is quite interesting, for instance, many achievements in software engineering take roots in projects from the past. Meanwhile, these projects are still of practical interest for future results. This is particularly significant for a young university—knowledge of the past achievements allow practitioners to get better results and prevent many mistakes.“

The SORUCOM conferences proceedings will be published in IEEE Xplorer digital library.

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