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Lukashenko slams poor digitization progress, underlines importance of Belarusian software

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MINSK, 31 March (BelTA) – Digitization progress is slow in Belarus. It is important to develop Belarusian software. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statements in his Address to the nation and the parliament on 31 March, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “The large-scale digitization that the government has been talking about for years is going slowly for now. The status of the IT country provides for creating a product to serve needs of our own economy first. Preferences were granted with that in mind. I have yet to see the results.”

He reminded about the difficulties Belarus had to face when technological sanctions were introduced. “We saw how heavily we are dependent on foreign software and what risks it entails. Imagine what software crashes at large chemical enterprises or, for instance, at the nuclear power plant could result in. Those abroad would very much want that. Imagine what problems with transactions we could face in finance. This is why the development of Belarusian software and its deployment should become an unconditional priority for all the organizations that are involved in the relevant business,” the head of state stressed.

“Not only resident companies of the Hi-Tech Park but the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, industrial groups, the financial sector, scientific and educational institutions should be granted support for creating new information technologies. Moreover, thanks to their efforts we’ve managed to avoid chaos, including chaos affecting infrastructure installations of strategic importance. And the Hi-Tech Park should get seriously involved in this process, should create new competitive products for the benefit of its own country while leaving intellectual products here,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.

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