SCHNEIDER GROUP "Read our Industry Insight to check out the latest developments in the Russia IT industry".
Dedicated to the IT Outsourcing and Software Development sectors in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, each of these countries have developed a strong IT sector able to rival those of India and China. The strength of their education systems focused on raising high-quality programmers and software developers, as well as the support given to these sectors by national governments help to make this industry a driver of future growth in the respective countries. Well-known international companies such as Kasperky and EPAM originated in these countries.
To see what services we provide, read more online http://schneider-group.com/en/portfolios/it-nearshoring/
SCHNEIDER GROUP Industry Insight: IT Outsourcing and Software in BelarusSCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
SCHNEIDER GROUP "We have gathered info about the Belarusian IT Outsourcing and IT Software industry. Read our report."
We offer different services for foreign companies wishing to operate in the IT sector in Belarus. Go here to see what we offer http://schneider-group.com/en/portfolios/it-nearshoring/
SCHNEIDER GROUP Industry Insight: Machinery and Equipment in RussiaSCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
SCHNEIDER GROUP "We offer Industry Insights about different industries in CIS, Ukraine and Poland. This one is about the sector: machinery and equipment in Russia."
The Machinery & Equipment industry in Russia is an important contributor in the Russian economy. It employs about 3% of the countryās working population and provides interesting development opportunities. A significant share of imported machinery used in different sectors of the economy (50%-90%), the need for modernization of equipment, the size of the Russian market (USD 103 bn in 2015) and developments in some sectors (13 sectors show 10%+ growth) are the sources of interesting market opportunities for overseas manufacturers.
Read more about this industry online http://schneider-group.com/en/portfolios/machinery-and-equipment/
SCHNEIDER GROUP Accounting and Taxes in RussiaSCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
The document provides an overview of accounting and tax regulations in Russia. It discusses the development of Russian accounting standards and important aspects of the Russian accounting system, including extensive documentation requirements. It also outlines key taxes such as profit tax, VAT, personal income tax, and social contributions. Tax rates are summarized in a table. Electronic document interchange has been introduced to streamline the documentation process.
SCHNEIDER GROUP Export, Import/DDP, Certification and Logistics in Russia, Ka...SCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
SCHNEIDER GROUP: "We offer export services, incl. customs clearance, product certification and logistics for CIS and Ukraine"
Our services entail the complete handling of the logistic chain and product certification. We support companies in the import process by taking over complete handling of the logistic chain, product certification, preparation of export documents, registration at the customs office, electronic customs clearance and delivery to the final customer or to our clientās warehouse.
Read more about our export / import services http://schneider-group.com/en/services/import-customs-certification/
SCHNEIDER GROUP Your Business Partner in CIS, Ukraine and PolandSCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
SCHNEIDER GROUP: "This is about who we are and what we do".
SCHNEIDER GROUP provides international clients with back office services they need to expand their business into or within Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Germany. Our services include market entry support, accounting outsourcing, tax consulting, import, ERP systems (1C, SAP and Microsoft Dynamics NAV) and support in legal matters with focus on migration, labor and corporate law.
Visit our website to learn more about our services http://schneider-group.com/en/services/ and events http://schneider-group.com/en/events/.
2024 State of Marketing Report ā by HubspotMarius Sescu
Ā
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
Ā· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
Ā· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
Ā· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
Ā· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
Ā· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
Ā· Seeking: A single source of truth
Ā· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
Ā· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
Ā
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
SCHNEIDER GROUP Industry Insight: IT Outsourcing and Software in BelarusSCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
SCHNEIDER GROUP "We have gathered info about the Belarusian IT Outsourcing and IT Software industry. Read our report."
We offer different services for foreign companies wishing to operate in the IT sector in Belarus. Go here to see what we offer http://schneider-group.com/en/portfolios/it-nearshoring/
SCHNEIDER GROUP Industry Insight: Machinery and Equipment in RussiaSCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
SCHNEIDER GROUP "We offer Industry Insights about different industries in CIS, Ukraine and Poland. This one is about the sector: machinery and equipment in Russia."
The Machinery & Equipment industry in Russia is an important contributor in the Russian economy. It employs about 3% of the countryās working population and provides interesting development opportunities. A significant share of imported machinery used in different sectors of the economy (50%-90%), the need for modernization of equipment, the size of the Russian market (USD 103 bn in 2015) and developments in some sectors (13 sectors show 10%+ growth) are the sources of interesting market opportunities for overseas manufacturers.
Read more about this industry online http://schneider-group.com/en/portfolios/machinery-and-equipment/
SCHNEIDER GROUP Accounting and Taxes in RussiaSCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
The document provides an overview of accounting and tax regulations in Russia. It discusses the development of Russian accounting standards and important aspects of the Russian accounting system, including extensive documentation requirements. It also outlines key taxes such as profit tax, VAT, personal income tax, and social contributions. Tax rates are summarized in a table. Electronic document interchange has been introduced to streamline the documentation process.
SCHNEIDER GROUP Export, Import/DDP, Certification and Logistics in Russia, Ka...SCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
SCHNEIDER GROUP: "We offer export services, incl. customs clearance, product certification and logistics for CIS and Ukraine"
Our services entail the complete handling of the logistic chain and product certification. We support companies in the import process by taking over complete handling of the logistic chain, product certification, preparation of export documents, registration at the customs office, electronic customs clearance and delivery to the final customer or to our clientās warehouse.
Read more about our export / import services http://schneider-group.com/en/services/import-customs-certification/
SCHNEIDER GROUP Your Business Partner in CIS, Ukraine and PolandSCHNEIDER GROUP
Ā
SCHNEIDER GROUP: "This is about who we are and what we do".
SCHNEIDER GROUP provides international clients with back office services they need to expand their business into or within Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Germany. Our services include market entry support, accounting outsourcing, tax consulting, import, ERP systems (1C, SAP and Microsoft Dynamics NAV) and support in legal matters with focus on migration, labor and corporate law.
Visit our website to learn more about our services http://schneider-group.com/en/services/ and events http://schneider-group.com/en/events/.
2024 State of Marketing Report ā by HubspotMarius Sescu
Ā
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
Ā· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
Ā· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
Ā· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
Ā· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
Ā· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
Ā· Seeking: A single source of truth
Ā· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
Ā· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
Ā
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
This talk will cover ScyllaDB Architecture from the cluster-level view and zoom in on data distribution and internal node architecture. In the process, we will learn the secret sauce used to get ScyllaDB's high availability and superior performance. We will also touch on the upcoming changes to ScyllaDB architecture, moving to strongly consistent metadata and tablets.
inQuba Webinar Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr Graham HillLizaNolte
Ā
HERE IS YOUR WEBINAR CONTENT!Ā 'Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr. Graham Hill'. We hope you find the webinar recording both insightful and enjoyable.Ā
In this webinar, we explored essential aspects of Customer Journey Management and personalization. Hereās a summary of the key insights and topics discussed:Ā
Key Takeaways:Ā
Understanding the Customer Journey: Dr. Hill emphasized the importance of mapping and understanding the complete customer journey to identify touchpoints and opportunities for improvement.
Personalization Strategies: We discussed how to leverage data and insights to create personalized experiences that resonate with customers.
Technology Integration:Ā Insights were shared on how inQubaās advanced technology can streamline customer interactions and drive operational efficiency.
Connector Corner: Seamlessly power UiPath Apps, GenAI with prebuilt connectorsDianaGray10
Ā
Join us to learn how UiPath Apps can directly and easily interact with prebuilt connectors via Integration Service--including Salesforce, ServiceNow, Open GenAI, and more.
The best part is you can achieve this without building a custom workflow! Say goodbye to the hassle of using separate automations to call APIs. By seamlessly integrating within App Studio, you can now easily streamline your workflow, while gaining direct access to our Connector Catalog of popular applications.
Weāll discuss and demo the benefits of UiPath Apps and connectors including:
Creating a compelling user experience for any software, without the limitations of APIs.
Accelerating the app creation process, saving time and effort
Enjoying high-performance CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations, for
seamless data management.
Speakers:
Russell Alfeche, Technology Leader, RPA at qBotic and UiPath MVP
Charlie Greenberg, host
Introduction of Cybersecurity with OSS at Code Europe 2024Hiroshi SHIBATA
Ā
I develop the Ruby programming language, RubyGems, and Bundler, which are package managers for Ruby. Today, I will introduce how to enhance the security of your application using open-source software (OSS) examples from Ruby and RubyGems.
The first topic is CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures). I have published CVEs many times. But what exactly is a CVE? I'll provide a basic understanding of CVEs and explain how to detect and handle vulnerabilities in OSS.
Next, let's discuss package managers. Package managers play a critical role in the OSS ecosystem. I'll explain how to manage library dependencies in your application.
I'll share insights into how the Ruby and RubyGems core team works to keep our ecosystem safe. By the end of this talk, you'll have a better understanding of how to safeguard your code.
[OReilly Superstream] Occupy the Space: A grassroots guide to engineering (an...Jason Yip
Ā
The typical problem in product engineering is not bad strategy, so much as āno strategyā. This leads to confusion, lack of motivation, and incoherent action. The next time you look for a strategy and find an empty space, instead of waiting for it to be filled, I will show you how to fill it in yourself. If youāre wrong, it forces a correction. If youāre right, it helps create focus. Iāll share how Iāve approached this in the past, both what works and lessons for what didnāt work so well.
Conversational agents, or chatbots, are increasingly used to access all sorts of services using natural language. While open-domain chatbots - like ChatGPT - can converse on any topic, task-oriented chatbots - the focus of this paper - are designed for specific tasks, like booking a flight, obtaining customer support, or setting an appointment. Like any other software, task-oriented chatbots need to be properly tested, usually by defining and executing test scenarios (i.e., sequences of user-chatbot interactions). However, there is currently a lack of methods to quantify the completeness and strength of such test scenarios, which can lead to low-quality tests, and hence to buggy chatbots.
To fill this gap, we propose adapting mutation testing (MuT) for task-oriented chatbots. To this end, we introduce a set of mutation operators that emulate faults in chatbot designs, an architecture that enables MuT on chatbots built using heterogeneous technologies, and a practical realisation as an Eclipse plugin. Moreover, we evaluate the applicability, effectiveness and efficiency of our approach on open-source chatbots, with promising results.
5th LF Energy Power Grid Model Meet-up SlidesDanBrown980551
Ā
5th Power Grid Model Meet-up
It is with great pleasure that we extend to you an invitation to the 5th Power Grid Model Meet-up, scheduled for 6th June 2024. This event will adopt a hybrid format, allowing participants to join us either through an online Mircosoft Teams session or in person at TU/e located at Den Dolech 2, Eindhoven, Netherlands. The meet-up will be hosted by Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), a research university specializing in engineering science & technology.
Power Grid Model
The global energy transition is placing new and unprecedented demands on Distribution System Operators (DSOs). Alongside upgrades to grid capacity, processes such as digitization, capacity optimization, and congestion management are becoming vital for delivering reliable services.
Power Grid Model is an open source project from Linux Foundation Energy and provides a calculation engine that is increasingly essential for DSOs. It offers a standards-based foundation enabling real-time power systems analysis, simulations of electrical power grids, and sophisticated what-if analysis. In addition, it enables in-depth studies and analysis of the electrical power gridās behavior and performance. This comprehensive model incorporates essential factors such as power generation capacity, electrical losses, voltage levels, power flows, and system stability.
Power Grid Model is currently being applied in a wide variety of use cases, including grid planning, expansion, reliability, and congestion studies. It can also help in analyzing the impact of renewable energy integration, assessing the effects of disturbances or faults, and developing strategies for grid control and optimization.
What to expect
For the upcoming meetup we are organizing, we have an exciting lineup of activities planned:
-Insightful presentations covering two practical applications of the Power Grid Model.
-An update on the latest advancements in Power Grid -Model technology during the first and second quarters of 2024.
-An interactive brainstorming session to discuss and propose new feature requests.
-An opportunity to connect with fellow Power Grid Model enthusiasts and users.
zkStudyClub - LatticeFold: A Lattice-based Folding Scheme and its Application...Alex Pruden
Ā
Folding is a recent technique for building efficient recursive SNARKs. Several elegant folding protocols have been proposed, such as Nova, Supernova, Hypernova, Protostar, and others. However, all of them rely on an additively homomorphic commitment scheme based on discrete log, and are therefore not post-quantum secure. In this work we present LatticeFold, the first lattice-based folding protocol based on the Module SIS problem. This folding protocol naturally leads to an efficient recursive lattice-based SNARK and an efficient PCD scheme. LatticeFold supports folding low-degree relations, such as R1CS, as well as high-degree relations, such as CCS. The key challenge is to construct a secure folding protocol that works with the Ajtai commitment scheme. The difficulty, is ensuring that extracted witnesses are low norm through many rounds of folding. We present a novel technique using the sumcheck protocol to ensure that extracted witnesses are always low norm no matter how many rounds of folding are used. Our evaluation of the final proof system suggests that it is as performant as Hypernova, while providing post-quantum security.
Paper Link: https://eprint.iacr.org/2024/257
How information systems are built or acquired puts information, which is what they should be about, in a secondary place. Our language adapted accordingly, and we no longer talk about information systems but applications. Applications evolved in a way to break data into diverse fragments, tightly coupled with applications and expensive to integrate. The result is technical debt, which is re-paid by taking even bigger "loans", resulting in an ever-increasing technical debt. Software engineering and procurement practices work in sync with market forces to maintain this trend. This talk demonstrates how natural this situation is. The question is: can something be done to reverse the trend?
Northern Engraving | Nameplate Manufacturing Process - 2024Northern Engraving
Ā
Manufacturing custom quality metal nameplates and badges involves several standard operations. Processes include sheet prep, lithography, screening, coating, punch press and inspection. All decoration is completed in the flat sheet with adhesive and tooling operations following. The possibilities for creating unique durable nameplates are endless. How will you create your brand identity? We can help!
How to Interpret Trends in the Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart.pdfChart Kalyan
Ā
A Mix Chart displays historical data of numbers in a graphical or tabular form. The Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart specifically shows the results of a sequence of numbers over different periods.
High performance Serverless Java on AWS- GoTo Amsterdam 2024Vadym Kazulkin
Ā
Java is for many years one of the most popular programming languages, but it used to have hard times in the Serverless community. Java is known for its high cold start times and high memory footprint, comparing to other programming languages like Node.js and Python. In this talk I'll look at the general best practices and techniques we can use to decrease memory consumption, cold start times for Java Serverless development on AWS including GraalVM (Native Image) and AWS own offering SnapStart based on Firecracker microVM snapshot and restore and CRaC (Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint) runtime hooks. I'll also provide a lot of benchmarking on Lambda functions trying out various deployment package sizes, Lambda memory settings, Java compilation options and HTTP (a)synchronous clients and measure their impact on cold and warm start times.
Session 1 - Intro to Robotic Process Automation.pdfUiPathCommunity
Ā
š Check out our full 'Africa Series - Automation Student Developers (EN)' page to register for the full program:
https://bit.ly/Automation_Student_Kickstart
In this session, we shall introduce you to the world of automation, the UiPath Platform, and guide you on how to install and setup UiPath Studio on your Windows PC.
š Detailed agenda:
What is RPA? Benefits of RPA?
RPA Applications
The UiPath End-to-End Automation Platform
UiPath Studio CE Installation and Setup
š» Extra training through UiPath Academy:
Introduction to Automation
UiPath Business Automation Platform
Explore automation development with UiPath Studio
š Register here for our upcoming Session 2 on June 20: Introduction to UiPath Studio Fundamentals: https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-lagos-presents-session-2-introduction-to-uipath-studio-fundamentals/
"Frontline Battles with DDoS: Best practices and Lessons Learned", Igor IvaniukFwdays
Ā
At this talk we will discuss DDoS protection tools and best practices, discuss network architectures and what AWS has to offer. Also, we will look into one of the largest DDoS attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure that happened in February 2022. We'll see, what techniques helped to keep the web resources available for Ukrainians and how AWS improved DDoS protection for all customers based on Ukraine experience
Main news related to the CCS TSI 2023 (2023/1695)Jakub Marek
Ā
An English š¬š§ translation of a presentation to the speech I gave about the main changes brought by CCS TSI 2023 at the biggest Czech conference on Communications and signalling systems on Railways, which was held in Clarion Hotel Olomouc from 7th to 9th November 2023 (konferenceszt.cz). Attended by around 500 participants and 200 on-line followers.
The original Czech šØšæ version of the presentation can be found here: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/hlavni-novinky-souvisejici-s-ccs-tsi-2023-2023-1695/269688092 .
The videorecording (in Czech) from the presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/WzjJWm4IyPk?si=SImb06tuXGb30BEH .
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Ā
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying itās good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation thatās least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state theyāre comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
Ā
Creative operations teams expect increased AI use in 2024. Currently, over half of tasks are not AI-enabled, but this is expected to decrease in the coming year. ChatGPT is the most popular AI tool currently. Business leaders are more actively exploring AI benefits than individual contributors. Most respondents do not believe AI will impact workforce size in 2024. However, some inhibitions still exist around AI accuracy and lack of understanding. Creatives primarily want to use AI to save time on mundane tasks and boost productivity.
This talk will cover ScyllaDB Architecture from the cluster-level view and zoom in on data distribution and internal node architecture. In the process, we will learn the secret sauce used to get ScyllaDB's high availability and superior performance. We will also touch on the upcoming changes to ScyllaDB architecture, moving to strongly consistent metadata and tablets.
inQuba Webinar Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr Graham HillLizaNolte
Ā
HERE IS YOUR WEBINAR CONTENT!Ā 'Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr. Graham Hill'. We hope you find the webinar recording both insightful and enjoyable.Ā
In this webinar, we explored essential aspects of Customer Journey Management and personalization. Hereās a summary of the key insights and topics discussed:Ā
Key Takeaways:Ā
Understanding the Customer Journey: Dr. Hill emphasized the importance of mapping and understanding the complete customer journey to identify touchpoints and opportunities for improvement.
Personalization Strategies: We discussed how to leverage data and insights to create personalized experiences that resonate with customers.
Technology Integration:Ā Insights were shared on how inQubaās advanced technology can streamline customer interactions and drive operational efficiency.
Connector Corner: Seamlessly power UiPath Apps, GenAI with prebuilt connectorsDianaGray10
Ā
Join us to learn how UiPath Apps can directly and easily interact with prebuilt connectors via Integration Service--including Salesforce, ServiceNow, Open GenAI, and more.
The best part is you can achieve this without building a custom workflow! Say goodbye to the hassle of using separate automations to call APIs. By seamlessly integrating within App Studio, you can now easily streamline your workflow, while gaining direct access to our Connector Catalog of popular applications.
Weāll discuss and demo the benefits of UiPath Apps and connectors including:
Creating a compelling user experience for any software, without the limitations of APIs.
Accelerating the app creation process, saving time and effort
Enjoying high-performance CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations, for
seamless data management.
Speakers:
Russell Alfeche, Technology Leader, RPA at qBotic and UiPath MVP
Charlie Greenberg, host
Introduction of Cybersecurity with OSS at Code Europe 2024Hiroshi SHIBATA
Ā
I develop the Ruby programming language, RubyGems, and Bundler, which are package managers for Ruby. Today, I will introduce how to enhance the security of your application using open-source software (OSS) examples from Ruby and RubyGems.
The first topic is CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures). I have published CVEs many times. But what exactly is a CVE? I'll provide a basic understanding of CVEs and explain how to detect and handle vulnerabilities in OSS.
Next, let's discuss package managers. Package managers play a critical role in the OSS ecosystem. I'll explain how to manage library dependencies in your application.
I'll share insights into how the Ruby and RubyGems core team works to keep our ecosystem safe. By the end of this talk, you'll have a better understanding of how to safeguard your code.
[OReilly Superstream] Occupy the Space: A grassroots guide to engineering (an...Jason Yip
Ā
The typical problem in product engineering is not bad strategy, so much as āno strategyā. This leads to confusion, lack of motivation, and incoherent action. The next time you look for a strategy and find an empty space, instead of waiting for it to be filled, I will show you how to fill it in yourself. If youāre wrong, it forces a correction. If youāre right, it helps create focus. Iāll share how Iāve approached this in the past, both what works and lessons for what didnāt work so well.
Conversational agents, or chatbots, are increasingly used to access all sorts of services using natural language. While open-domain chatbots - like ChatGPT - can converse on any topic, task-oriented chatbots - the focus of this paper - are designed for specific tasks, like booking a flight, obtaining customer support, or setting an appointment. Like any other software, task-oriented chatbots need to be properly tested, usually by defining and executing test scenarios (i.e., sequences of user-chatbot interactions). However, there is currently a lack of methods to quantify the completeness and strength of such test scenarios, which can lead to low-quality tests, and hence to buggy chatbots.
To fill this gap, we propose adapting mutation testing (MuT) for task-oriented chatbots. To this end, we introduce a set of mutation operators that emulate faults in chatbot designs, an architecture that enables MuT on chatbots built using heterogeneous technologies, and a practical realisation as an Eclipse plugin. Moreover, we evaluate the applicability, effectiveness and efficiency of our approach on open-source chatbots, with promising results.
5th LF Energy Power Grid Model Meet-up SlidesDanBrown980551
Ā
5th Power Grid Model Meet-up
It is with great pleasure that we extend to you an invitation to the 5th Power Grid Model Meet-up, scheduled for 6th June 2024. This event will adopt a hybrid format, allowing participants to join us either through an online Mircosoft Teams session or in person at TU/e located at Den Dolech 2, Eindhoven, Netherlands. The meet-up will be hosted by Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), a research university specializing in engineering science & technology.
Power Grid Model
The global energy transition is placing new and unprecedented demands on Distribution System Operators (DSOs). Alongside upgrades to grid capacity, processes such as digitization, capacity optimization, and congestion management are becoming vital for delivering reliable services.
Power Grid Model is an open source project from Linux Foundation Energy and provides a calculation engine that is increasingly essential for DSOs. It offers a standards-based foundation enabling real-time power systems analysis, simulations of electrical power grids, and sophisticated what-if analysis. In addition, it enables in-depth studies and analysis of the electrical power gridās behavior and performance. This comprehensive model incorporates essential factors such as power generation capacity, electrical losses, voltage levels, power flows, and system stability.
Power Grid Model is currently being applied in a wide variety of use cases, including grid planning, expansion, reliability, and congestion studies. It can also help in analyzing the impact of renewable energy integration, assessing the effects of disturbances or faults, and developing strategies for grid control and optimization.
What to expect
For the upcoming meetup we are organizing, we have an exciting lineup of activities planned:
-Insightful presentations covering two practical applications of the Power Grid Model.
-An update on the latest advancements in Power Grid -Model technology during the first and second quarters of 2024.
-An interactive brainstorming session to discuss and propose new feature requests.
-An opportunity to connect with fellow Power Grid Model enthusiasts and users.
zkStudyClub - LatticeFold: A Lattice-based Folding Scheme and its Application...Alex Pruden
Ā
Folding is a recent technique for building efficient recursive SNARKs. Several elegant folding protocols have been proposed, such as Nova, Supernova, Hypernova, Protostar, and others. However, all of them rely on an additively homomorphic commitment scheme based on discrete log, and are therefore not post-quantum secure. In this work we present LatticeFold, the first lattice-based folding protocol based on the Module SIS problem. This folding protocol naturally leads to an efficient recursive lattice-based SNARK and an efficient PCD scheme. LatticeFold supports folding low-degree relations, such as R1CS, as well as high-degree relations, such as CCS. The key challenge is to construct a secure folding protocol that works with the Ajtai commitment scheme. The difficulty, is ensuring that extracted witnesses are low norm through many rounds of folding. We present a novel technique using the sumcheck protocol to ensure that extracted witnesses are always low norm no matter how many rounds of folding are used. Our evaluation of the final proof system suggests that it is as performant as Hypernova, while providing post-quantum security.
Paper Link: https://eprint.iacr.org/2024/257
How information systems are built or acquired puts information, which is what they should be about, in a secondary place. Our language adapted accordingly, and we no longer talk about information systems but applications. Applications evolved in a way to break data into diverse fragments, tightly coupled with applications and expensive to integrate. The result is technical debt, which is re-paid by taking even bigger "loans", resulting in an ever-increasing technical debt. Software engineering and procurement practices work in sync with market forces to maintain this trend. This talk demonstrates how natural this situation is. The question is: can something be done to reverse the trend?
Northern Engraving | Nameplate Manufacturing Process - 2024Northern Engraving
Ā
Manufacturing custom quality metal nameplates and badges involves several standard operations. Processes include sheet prep, lithography, screening, coating, punch press and inspection. All decoration is completed in the flat sheet with adhesive and tooling operations following. The possibilities for creating unique durable nameplates are endless. How will you create your brand identity? We can help!
How to Interpret Trends in the Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart.pdfChart Kalyan
Ā
A Mix Chart displays historical data of numbers in a graphical or tabular form. The Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart specifically shows the results of a sequence of numbers over different periods.
High performance Serverless Java on AWS- GoTo Amsterdam 2024Vadym Kazulkin
Ā
Java is for many years one of the most popular programming languages, but it used to have hard times in the Serverless community. Java is known for its high cold start times and high memory footprint, comparing to other programming languages like Node.js and Python. In this talk I'll look at the general best practices and techniques we can use to decrease memory consumption, cold start times for Java Serverless development on AWS including GraalVM (Native Image) and AWS own offering SnapStart based on Firecracker microVM snapshot and restore and CRaC (Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint) runtime hooks. I'll also provide a lot of benchmarking on Lambda functions trying out various deployment package sizes, Lambda memory settings, Java compilation options and HTTP (a)synchronous clients and measure their impact on cold and warm start times.
Session 1 - Intro to Robotic Process Automation.pdfUiPathCommunity
Ā
š Check out our full 'Africa Series - Automation Student Developers (EN)' page to register for the full program:
https://bit.ly/Automation_Student_Kickstart
In this session, we shall introduce you to the world of automation, the UiPath Platform, and guide you on how to install and setup UiPath Studio on your Windows PC.
š Detailed agenda:
What is RPA? Benefits of RPA?
RPA Applications
The UiPath End-to-End Automation Platform
UiPath Studio CE Installation and Setup
š» Extra training through UiPath Academy:
Introduction to Automation
UiPath Business Automation Platform
Explore automation development with UiPath Studio
š Register here for our upcoming Session 2 on June 20: Introduction to UiPath Studio Fundamentals: https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-lagos-presents-session-2-introduction-to-uipath-studio-fundamentals/
"Frontline Battles with DDoS: Best practices and Lessons Learned", Igor IvaniukFwdays
Ā
At this talk we will discuss DDoS protection tools and best practices, discuss network architectures and what AWS has to offer. Also, we will look into one of the largest DDoS attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure that happened in February 2022. We'll see, what techniques helped to keep the web resources available for Ukrainians and how AWS improved DDoS protection for all customers based on Ukraine experience
Main news related to the CCS TSI 2023 (2023/1695)Jakub Marek
Ā
An English š¬š§ translation of a presentation to the speech I gave about the main changes brought by CCS TSI 2023 at the biggest Czech conference on Communications and signalling systems on Railways, which was held in Clarion Hotel Olomouc from 7th to 9th November 2023 (konferenceszt.cz). Attended by around 500 participants and 200 on-line followers.
The original Czech šØšæ version of the presentation can be found here: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/hlavni-novinky-souvisejici-s-ccs-tsi-2023-2023-1695/269688092 .
The videorecording (in Czech) from the presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/WzjJWm4IyPk?si=SImb06tuXGb30BEH .
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Ā
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying itās good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation thatās least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state theyāre comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
Ā
Creative operations teams expect increased AI use in 2024. Currently, over half of tasks are not AI-enabled, but this is expected to decrease in the coming year. ChatGPT is the most popular AI tool currently. Business leaders are more actively exploring AI benefits than individual contributors. Most respondents do not believe AI will impact workforce size in 2024. However, some inhibitions still exist around AI accuracy and lack of understanding. Creatives primarily want to use AI to save time on mundane tasks and boost productivity.
Organizational culture includes values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits that influence employee behaviors and how people interpret those behaviors. It is important because culture can help or hinder a company's success. Some key aspects of Netflix's culture that help it achieve results include hiring smartly so every position has stars, focusing on attitude over just aptitude, and having a strict policy against peacocks, whiners, and jerks.
PEPSICO Presentation to CAGNY Conference Feb 2024Neil Kimberley
Ā
PepsiCo provided a safe harbor statement noting that any forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and are subject to risks and uncertainties. It also provided information on non-GAAP measures and directing readers to its website for disclosure and reconciliation. The document then discussed PepsiCo's business overview, including that it is a global beverage and convenient food company with iconic brands, $91 billion in net revenue in 2023, and nearly $14 billion in core operating profit. It operates through a divisional structure with a focus on local consumers.
Content Methodology: A Best Practices Report (Webinar)contently
Ā
This document provides an overview of content methodology best practices. It defines content methodology as establishing objectives, KPIs, and a culture of continuous learning and iteration. An effective methodology focuses on connecting with audiences, creating optimal content, and optimizing processes. It also discusses why a methodology is needed due to the competitive landscape, proliferation of channels, and opportunities for improvement. Components of an effective methodology include defining objectives and KPIs, audience analysis, identifying opportunities, and evaluating resources. The document concludes with recommendations around creating a content plan, testing and optimizing content over 90 days.
How to Prepare For a Successful Job Search for 2024Albert Qian
Ā
The document provides guidance on preparing a job search for 2024. It discusses the state of the job market, focusing on growth in AI and healthcare but also continued layoffs. It recommends figuring out what you want to do by researching interests and skills, then conducting informational interviews. The job search should involve building a personal brand on LinkedIn, actively applying to jobs, tailoring resumes and interviews, maintaining job hunting as a habit, and continuing self-improvement. Once hired, the document advises setting new goals and keeping skills and networking active in case of future opportunities.
Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024Search Engine Journal
Ā
The search marketing landscape is evolving rapidly with new technologies, and professionals, like you, rely on innovative paid search strategies to meet changing demands.
Itās important that youāre ready to implement new strategies in 2024.
Check this out and learn the top trends in paid search advertising that are expected to gain traction, so you can drive higher ROI more efficiently in 2024.
Youāll learn:
- The latest trends in AI and automation, and what this means for an evolving paid search ecosystem.
- New developments in privacy and data regulation.
- Emerging ad formats that are expected to make an impact next year.
Watch Sreekant Lanka from iQuanti and Irina Klein from OneMain Financial as they dive into the future of paid search and explore the trends, strategies, and technologies that will shape the search marketing landscape.
If youāre looking to assess your paid search strategy and design an industry-aligned plan for 2024, then this webinar is for you.
5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summarySpeakerHub
Ā
From their humble beginnings in 1984, TED has grown into the worldās most powerful amplifier for speakers and thought-leaders to share their ideas. They have over 2,400 filmed talks (not including the 30,000+ TEDx videos) freely available online, and have hosted over 17,500 events around the world.
With over one billion views in a year, itās no wonder that so many speakers are looking to TED for ideas on how to share their message more effectively.
The article ā5 Public-Speaking Tips TED Gives Its Speakersā, by Carmine Gallo for Forbes, gives speakers five practical ways to connect with their audience, and effectively share their ideas on stage.
Whether you are gearing up to get on a TED stage yourself, or just want to master the skills that so many of their speakers possess, these tips and quotes from Chris Anderson, the TED Talks Curator, will encourage you to make the most impactful impression on your audience.
See the full article and more summaries like this on SpeakerHub here: https://speakerhub.com/blog/5-presentation-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers
See the original article on Forbes here:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/05/06/5-public-speaking-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers/&refURL=&referrer=#5c07a8221d9b
ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd Clark Boyd
Ā
Everyone is in agreement that ChatGPT (and other generative AI tools) will shape the future of work. Yet there is little consensus on exactly how, when, and to what extent this technology will change our world.
Businesses that extract maximum value from ChatGPT will use it as a collaborative tool for everything from brainstorming to technical maintenance.
For individuals, now is the time to pinpoint the skills the future professional will need to thrive in the AI age.
Check out this presentation to understand what ChatGPT is, how it will shape the future of work, and how you can prepare to take advantage.
The document provides career advice for getting into the tech field, including:
- Doing projects and internships in college to build a portfolio.
- Learning about different roles and technologies through industry research.
- Contributing to open source projects to build experience and network.
- Developing a personal brand through a website and social media presence.
- Networking through events, communities, and finding a mentor.
- Practicing interviews through mock interviews and whiteboarding coding questions.
Google's Just Not That Into You: Understanding Core Updates & Search IntentLily Ray
Ā
1. Core updates from Google periodically change how its algorithms assess and rank websites and pages. This can impact rankings through shifts in user intent, site quality issues being caught up to, world events influencing queries, and overhauls to search like the E-A-T framework.
2. There are many possible user intents beyond just transactional, navigational and informational. Identifying intent shifts is important during core updates. Sites may need to optimize for new intents through different content types and sections.
3. Responding effectively to core updates requires analyzing "before and after" data to understand changes, identifying new intents or page types, and ensuring content matches appropriate intents across video, images, knowledge graphs and more.
A brief introduction to DataScience with explaining of the concepts, algorithms, machine learning, supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, statistics, data preprocessing, real-world applications etc.
It's part of a Data Science Corner Campaign where I will be discussing the fundamentals of DataScience, AIML, Statistics etc.
Time Management & Productivity - Best PracticesVit Horky
Ā
Here's my presentation on by proven best practices how to manage your work time effectively and how to improve your productivity. It includes practical tips and how to use tools such as Slack, Google Apps, Hubspot, Google Calendar, Gmail and others.
The six step guide to practical project managementMindGenius
Ā
The six step guide to practical project management
If you think managing projects is too difficult, think again.
Weāve stripped back project management processes to the
basics ā to make it quicker and easier, without sacrificing
the vital ingredients for success.
āIf youāre looking for some real-world guidance, then The Six Step Guide to Practical Project Management will help.ā
Dr Andrew Makar, Tactical Project Management
Unlocking the Power of ChatGPT and AI in Testing - A Real-World Look, present...Applitools
Ā
During this webinar, Anand Bagmar demonstrates how AI tools such as ChatGPT can be applied to various stages of the software development life cycle (SDLC) using an eCommerce application case study. Find the on-demand recording and more info at https://applitools.info/b59
Key takeaways:
ā¢ Learn how to use ChatGPT to add AI power to your testing and test automation
ā¢ Understand the limitations of the technology and where human expertise is crucial
ā¢ Gain insight into different AI-based tools
ā¢ Adopt AI-based tools to stay relevant and optimize work for developers and testers
* ChatGPT and OpenAI belong to OpenAI, L.L.C.
The document discusses various AI tools from OpenAI like GPT-3 and DALL-E 2, as well as ChatGPT. It explores how search engines are using AI and things to consider around AI-generated content. Potential SEO uses of ChatGPT are also presented, such as generating content at scale, conducting topic research, and automating basic coding tasks. The document encourages further reading on using ChatGPT for SEO purposes.
SCHNEIDER GROUP Industry Insight: IT Outsourcing and Software in Russia
1. IT Outsourcing & Software
Development in Russia
Thomas Titsch
IT / ERP Director, SCHNEIDER GROUP
September 2016
2. Contents
Executive Summary
Russia: Facts & Advantages
IT Outsourcing & Software Development: Role in the Economy
Target Markets
Labor Market in Software Development
Import Substitution
SWOT Analysis
Current Tax Exposure
Tax and Regulatory Advantages and Benefits
Establishing Legal Presence
Current Major Projects in IT Industry
Our Industry-Specific Services
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 2
This report is an overview of the IT Outsourcing & Software Development in Russia rather than an exhaustive
report of the entire IT industry. We would be happy to provide a more detailed report on a specific subject.
3. 0.3
1.2 1.6
2.6 2.6 2.5
0.5
1.5
1.8
2.3
4.1
3.1
2005 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Purchases of software
and IT outsourcing
services in Russia, USD
bn
Software
IT outsourcing
Executive Summary (1)
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 3
The Russian IT outsourcing and software development market is
estimated at USD 12.7 bn, which accounts for approximately 1.1% of
GDP
Companies in Russia purchased software for a total of USD 2.5 bn and
IT outsourcing services for USD 3.1 bn in 2014
Russiaās exports of software and IT services were estimated at
approximately USD 7 bn in 2015
Russiaās exports of software and services increased by 17% in 2015
compared to 2014. From 2009, this market segment has increased by
a factor of 2.5 showing a CAGR of 16.5%
State agencies purchased via public tenders software for a total of USD
1.4 bn, 77% of the value was foreign software
The Russian IT market is going through a structural change: hardware
sales are declining as business process automation software, cloud
services, Big Data solutions, outsourcing and business analysis
systems are in greater demand
The Rubleās devaluation makes the country attractive as an exporter
of services from the cost perspective
There are more than 3 500 software companies, of which 60% have
export revenues
IT
equipmt,
7.1, 56%
IT
services ,
3.1, 24%
Software,
2.5, 20%
Russian IT market, USD bn;
%
12,7
Sources: Rosstat, IDC, Frost & Sullivan
Source: Rosstat
4. Executive Summary (2)
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 4
Established software hubs are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny
Novgorod and Novosibirsk. Moscow is well-known for business
application programming whereas others are centers for scientific
programming
Russia is home to brands that have gained or are gaining international
renown, such as Kaspersky, Yandex, InfoWatch, Positive Technologies,
Prognoz, EMC, Diasoft, Naumen, Parallels, Acronis, Auriga, Data Art,
First Line Software, MERA, Reksoft, Return on Intelligence and
Maykor. In addition, there are hundreds more companies in the sector
Russia is #12 in the global mobile gaming industry with USD 1.3 bn
revenues
IT outsourcing market is changing: oil & gas companies are reducing
their expenditures while banks and retail companies are spending more
About 25 000 IT professionals graduate every year from universities.
This is not enough due to a deficit of specialists due to strong
competition with integrators and vendors for talent
Very strong school of mathematics: highly complex mathematical
analysis and algorithmic thinking differentiate Russia from other
countries
Source: Russoft
2.8
3.3
4.0
4.6
5.4
6.0
7.0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Export of software and IT
services from Russia,
USD bn
37% 38%
19%
23%
33%
41%
70% 72%
2014 2015
Access to IT, % of
households
Laptops and
netbooks
Tablets
Smartphones,
handhelds
Access to
Internet
Source: Rosstat
5. Executive Summary (3)
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 5
Consistently strong results in the ACM International Collegiate
Programming Contest. Russian students won the contest 10 times: St.
Petersburg ITMO University won 6 times (the only six-time winner in
the world) and St. Petersburg University won 4 times (most recent win
in 2016). Top 10 global performers in 2016 included teams from Urals
Federal University (Ekaterinburg) and Nizhny Novgorod State
University
Estimates of software developers working in Russia range between
400 000 (Microsoft) to 890 000 (EDC)
102 million Internet users (71% of population), the country has very
quickly embraced the Internet and new technologies
The government provides significant tax incentives for software
companies
The government is pushing for local software champions. Government
agencies and state-owned companies have to justify why they buy
foreign software if there is a Russian equivalent in such fields as
business applications, antivirus software, information security, and
Internet servers in business environment
List of Russian-made software was established in 2015
30 science and technology parks have been created to serve as the
impetus for the sectorās development in the future
āThe Russian
software
development sector
offers huge
opportunities and
growth. It is a focus
sector of the
Russian government
strategy for the
future Russian
economy.ā
6. 1 886
2 048
2 204 2 212
1 325
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
GDP, USD bn
Russia: Facts & Advantages
Russia is a major market with 144 million inhabitants, of which
74% live in urban areas
Very close to Europe with strong historic and economic ties
77 million people are working age (aged 15-72)
Good education system with a strong technical/science heritage
100% of population is literate with 95% with at least upper
secondary education
950 state and private universities produce 1.2 million graduates a
year (almost double from 2000)
According to OECD, 54% of those aged 25-64 have attained
university degree
Approximately 30% of graduates major in sciences and technology
12th largest economy in the world measured by GDP in real terms:
USD 1 325 billion
6th largest economy in the world measured by GDP based on
PPP valuation
GDP per capita in 2015 at current prices: USD 9 055 (and USD
25 411 based on PPP)
Significant progress in World Bankās āEase of doing businessā
ranking: 51st place in 2016 (2015: 62nd)
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 6
Vast potential
Indicators 2015
Public debt, USD bn* 112
Public debt as a % of GDP 9%
Private debt, USD bn 165
Private debt as a % of GDP 13,2%
Human Development Index (HDI) 0,798
Unemployment, % 5,9
Source: Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat),
FocusEconomics, UNDP, Central Bank
*Year-end exchange rates were used.
7. IT Outsourcing and Software
Development: Role in the Economy
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 7
1.2%
is the sectorās contribution to the
economy
890 000
Specialists
1.1%
of total working population
3rd
Leading country in software
exports after India and China
90%
of players are small and medium
sized companies
Sources: Rosstat, IDC, Russoft, own estimates
3.4
4.9
6.7
5.6 5.0
4.0
4.6
5.4
6.0 7.0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Russia's software and IT
outsourcing services market,
USD bn
Domestic consumption Exports
7,4
9,5
12,1
11,6 12,0
8. Target Markets (1)
Customers by Industry
8accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax
21%
18%
14%
12%
8%
8%
7%
4%
3%
3% 2%
Users of IT Outsourcing Services
by Industry, %
Financial services
Real estate, renting and
services
Manufacturing
Transport and
communications
Mining
Public administration and
defence, social insurance
Wholesale and retail
trading; repair services
Electricity, gas and
water supply
Healthcare and social
services
Construction
Other
Source: Rosstat
29%
16%
12%
12%
9%
8%
4%
3%
2%2% 3%
Software Purchases by Industry, %
Financial services
Real estate, renting and
services
Transport and
communications
Manufacturing
Public administration and
defence, social insurance
Wholesale and retail
trading; repair services
Electricity, gas and
water supply
Mining
Healthcare and social
services
Construction
Other
9. Target Markets (2)
IT Outsourcing
9accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax
Customer Sector Provider Geography Years
Russian Post Services Maykor All Russia 2014-2017
Federal Treasury Government I-Teco All Russia 2014-2015
Universal Electronic Card Transport Maykor Moscow Region 2015-2022
Rosreestr (Real Estate Registry Service of
Russia)
Government I-Teco All Russia 2015
Analytics Center, Supreme Court of Russia Government Orbita Service All Russia 2015
Pension Fund of Russia Government Technoserv All Russia 2015
MegaFon Retail Retail Maykor 500 cities 2015-2016
Sberbank (macro-region branch) Finance IT Center Voronezh Reg. 6 regions 2014-2015
Rostelecom Telecoms Maykor Volga Fed. Dist. 2014-2017
Baltbet Services Maykor 190 cities 2014
Rostelecom ā Retail Systems Retail Maykor All Russia 2015
Pochta Bank Finance Jet Infosystems All Russia 2014
Sberbank (macro-region branch) Finance Maykor Eastern Siberia 2014
Kari Retail Maykor All Russia 2015-2016
Bank Otkrytie Finance Maykor All Russia 2014-2015
Detski Mir Retail Maykor All Russia 2015
Melon Fashion Group Retail Maykor All Russia 2015
Source: TAdviser
Russian government agencies and private sector have been actively outsourcing IT
support functions to independent local players
Top IT outsourcing projects involved creation of large databases and servicing IT
infrastructure of retail outlets in multiple locations
10. Target Markets (3)
Data Centers
170-180 large- and mid-sized
data centers operate in
Russia (iKS-Consulting)
Vast majority of data centers
are in Moscow and St.
Petersburg
Data centers in other areas
are scarce
Revenues are showing
double-digit growth
Prices have not basically
changed since 2014 in order
to attract new clients
Data centers serve not only
Russian companies but also
firms based in the EU
10accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax
Source: CNews
Strong concentration in the two capitals with a number of new
centers launches driven by legislation changes
Rating Company Number of racks Power supply, MWt
1 DataLine 2 718 26,6
2 MMTS-9 1 358 6,5
3 Linxtelecom 1 200 17
4 (5) SafeData 1 190 14
5 (4) Selectel 1 190 12,8
6 KROK 990 11
7 TrustInfo 960 8
8 Stack Group 901 8,7
9 DataPro 850 20
10 DataSpace 820 9,5
11. Target Markets (4)
Software Development
11accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax
Year of Survey/ Vertical Markets 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Information Technology 74% 70% 74% 75% 68%
Banking 23% 36% 26% 27% 34%
Telecom 26% 38% 31% 35% 27%
Industrial Manufacturing 27% 36% 38% 40% 37%
Business Logistics, Travel &
Transportation
28% 37% 29% 33% 31%
Government 21% 31% 24% 34% 28%
Power Supply, Gas & Oil 17% 22% 22% 24% 29%
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals 23% 29% 28% 31% 28%
Retail & Distribution 26% 41% 29% 31% 24%
Education 21% 28% 28% 31% 24%
Science & Research 18% 28% 26% 31% 20%
Gambling & Entertainment 9% 17% 15% 18% 17%
Media 13% 20% 18% 15% 18%
Sport & Travel 10% 20% 17% 18% 11%
Insurance 13% 28% 15% 15% 15%
Building & Real estate 12% 23% 17% 21% 28%
Services 27% 40% 35% 31% 26%
Financial Services 25% 30% 26% 27% 21%
Energy 17% 22% 21% 20% 24%
Source: russoft.ru
Based on the Russoft survey of software developers, their target industries are as follows:
12. Target Markets (5)
Software Development
USD 5 bn market volume
Largest growth in custom software development services
Trend toward development of ready-to-use solutions
Strong increase in export volumes
More than 3 500 active software companies
Leading software developers by revenue band:
12accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax
Note: Companies are sorted alphabetically within their revenue groups
Source: Russoft, TAdviser
Company HQ location Product
1 1Š” Moscow Accounting,
databases
2 Cognitive
Technologies
Moscow Enterprise functional
management
3 EPAM Systems Minsk/Moscow Bespoke development
4 Kaspersky Lab Moscow Antivirus
5 Center of
Financial
Technologies
Novosibirsk Banking software
6 Luxoft Moscow Bespoke development
Company HQ location Product
1 Abbyy Moscow Optical text
recognition, form
entry, dictionaries
2 Acronis Moscow Back-up and data
storage
3 CBOSS Moscow Billing systems for
telecoms
4 Parallels Novosibirsk Virtualisation
5 SKB Kontur Ekaterinburg DMS, accounting
6 Prognoz Perm Business intelligence
7 Transas St Petersburg Transport
management
8 Veeam St Petersburg Availability and back-
up solutions
USD 500m+ USD 100-500m
13. Target Markets (6)
Mobile Applications Development
Thanks to the pervasive use of smartphones and other mobile devices, mobile apps have
become very popular
Russian market of mobile apps is estimated at USD 1.3 bn in 2016 (Jāson & Partners
Consulting)
Russia is #5 globally by the number of downloads
Russia is #3 in the global retail mobile conversion rate index (Criteo)
Leading software developers by revenue band:
13accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax
Source: CMS Magazine
Developer Rating No. of Apps
1 CleverPumpkin 8,73 145
2 Touch Instinct 5,29 110
3 Sebbia 5,1 137
4 e-Legion 4,9 102
5 REDMADROBOT 3,86 99
6 Infoshell 3,25 96
7 MobileUp 2,46 73
8 Smorodina 2,14 50
9 King Bird Studio 1,99 75
10 Asmo-Press Media Group 1,98 209
14. Target Markets (7)
Major Offshore Development Centers
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 14
Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk are the leaders in the software development industry
The former cover around 70% of the total market
St. Petersburg is the leader in graduates from IT, science and engineering with 28 000
graduates p.a., Moscow 24 000 and Novosibirsk 15 000
St. Petersburg: 125
Moscow: 160
Novosibirsk: 41
Vladivostok: 3
Kazan: 7
Ekaterinburg: 8
Samara: 9Rostov: 6
N. Novgorod: 11
Number of software offshore
development centers per city
15. Labor Market in Software Development
15accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax
Sources: software-russia.com
St. Petersburg labor market with approx. 232 000
IT employees and average salary of USD 18 000
p.a.
Russian educational system is traditionally strong
in fundamental sciences and math, leading to
Russian programmers being well trained in
problem solving and algorithmic thinking
Moscow labor market with approx. 510 000 IT
employees and average salary of USD 21 000
p.a.
Russian labor market is far more stable than
Indian, leading to very low personnel attrition rates
(below 10% annually vs. 20-25% or higher in India)
St. Petersburg
-
Moscow
Average gross monthly salary in 2015 (in USD)
Java 1C C#/.NET C++ Delphi PHP Python Ruby/ Rails
Junior
Programmer
908 1 057 797 760 946 853 946 853
- - - - - - - -
1 020 1 131 1 001 908 1 001 890 1 038 1 094
Programmer
1 594 1 428 1 428 1 279 1 465 1 539 1 576 1 576
- - - - - - - -
1 761 1 576 1 650 1 761 1 798 1 706 1 798 1 835
Senior
Programmer
2 299 2 521 2 114 2 243 2 188 2 132 2 243 2 262
- - - - - - - -
2 503 2 762 2 262 2 521 2 577 2 466 2 503 2 503
16. Import Substitution (1)
Software
The government is pushing an active import substitution agenda in key segments, including
software development
Federal Law #188-FZ dated 29.06.2015 provides for preferences to local software producers
involved in state tenders; the law has been in effect since 01.01.2016
If a Russian equivalent of a foreign software program or database is available, the customer
should buy it. If it does not want, it should publicly justify why
Criteria for treating software as that of Russian origin set out in the law:
ā¢ Exclusive rights to this software are owned by Russia, its region or municipality, a Russian company or
non-commercial entity in which Russia has more than 50% of shares, and Russian citizens
ā¢ A foreign entity should have no control over the owner of rights
ā¢ Payments in favor of foreign entities should not exceed 30% of all payments for this specific software
Governmentās Decree #1236 dated 16.11.2015:
ā¢ Establishes a log (registry) of Russian software and sets out rules of maintaining it
ā¢ Contains a procedure of justifying why software made in Russia is not appropriate for the customer
The registry is maintained by the Ministry of Communications
It currently has approximately 1 200 product records; 2 260 more applications are pending
Each record has details of the product, including brief description, technical architecture,
distribution chart, production cycle, etc.
Link to the registry: https://reestr.minsvyaz.ru/reestr/
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 16
17. Import Substitution (2)
Russian IT Market
Import Share %
2014
ERP. CRM. BI ā¦ 75
Antivirus 60
Internet / Cloud Services 50
Server operating systems 75
PLM. CAD. CAM. CAE 88
accounting | ERP | import | legal | tax 17
2025
25
40
10
50
50
18. SWOT Analysis
IT Outsourcing and Software Development
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Strengths
Large educated workforce
Highly developed IT technical skills
Expertise in complex non-standard solutions
High concentration of technical universities in
main IT cities
Low attrition rate
Nearshoring opportunities because time zones
are more aligned with Europe and the U.S.
Existing significant players
Special tax regime for software companies
Weaknesses
Insufficient supply of IT specialists and
strong competition from integrators and
vendors
Language skills are less developed than in
some other CEE countries
Visa requirements cause difficulties to
travel to Russia
Legal restrictions in internet related IT
Opportunities
Significant devaluation of currencies makes
Russia attractive from the cost perspective
Growth of nearshoring
Growth potential of existing industry players, they
have attained major market niches
Increasing interest in complete IT outsourcing and
cloud services
Improved marketing of Russiaās IT export potential
Preferences to Russian software products and
service providers at state tenders
Subsidies to high-tech industry
Threats
Competition not only from traditional rivals
(China and India) but also from other Asia
Pacific players and Central and Eastern
Europe
Legislation changes and isolationism
Stalemate in sanctions
Continued brain drain
19. Current Tax Exposure
Non-accredited IT Companies
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Corporate Profit Tax: 20%
Simplified Tax regime:
ā¢ As tax on profit (normal rate) 15%
ā¢ As tax on turnover (normal rate) 6%
VAT normal rate 18%
VAT reduced rate 10%
VAT on exports 0%
Personal Income Tax 13%
20. Tax and Regulatory Advantages and Benefits
State-Accredited IT Companies
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Social Contribution to:
Accumulated Income
threshold in RUR p.a.*
Common rates IT accredited company
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Social fund
ā¤ 718 000 2,9% 2% 2% 2,9% 2,9% 2,9%
> 718 000 0 %
Pension fund
ā¤ 796 000 22% 8% 8% 13% 20% 22%
> 796 000 10% 0% 0% 0% 0% 10%
Insurance - 5,1% 4% 4% 5,1% 5,1% 5,1%
Accident insurance - 0,2%
Interim results I ā¤ 718 000 30,2% 14,2% 14,2% 21,2% 28,2% 30,2%
Interim results II 718 001 ā 796 000 27,3% 12,2% 12,2% 18,3% 25,3% 27,3%
Interim results III > 796 000 15,3% 4,2% 4,2% 5,3% 5,3% 15,3%
1. Reduction of Social Contributions
2. Other benefits
Accelerated deprecation of IT equipment
Lower minimum salary for foreign Highly Qualified Specialists
>3 000 accredited companies
21. Establishing Legal Presence
Usually as an OOO (limited liability company)
Registration with tax authorities within 5 working days
Further registrations with non-budgetary funds, opening of bank accounts
usually take another 3 weeks
Minimum charter capital RUR 10 000 (ā EUR 140)
100% foreign ownership possible
Legal address required
One or more general directors as single executive body
Foreign general directors possible but Russian citizen is required until
work permit is received
Work permits for foreigners as Highly Qualified Specialists in 3 - 4 weeks
Special accreditation for software companies is possible in case certain
criteria are fulfilled
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22. IT Industry Parks (1)
Skolkovo
ā¢ High tech business area
ā¢ Technopark 95 000 m2
ā¢ 336 resident companies
ā¢ 8 600 jobs
ā¢ Generating RUR 19.4 bn in revenues
ā¢ Strong government support and financing, grants and top infrastructure
ā¢ Clusters for IT, energy, biomed, space & nuclear
ā¢ Management school & private research university
ā¢ Collaboration with international companies such as IBM, Siemens, Nokia,
Microsoft, Cisco, EMC, etc.
ā¢ Tax benefits for residents
http://sk.ru/
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23. IT Industry Parks (2)
Tomsk SEZ
ā¢ IT, Nanotech, Biotech focus
ā¢ 34 000 m2
ā¢ 60 resident organizations, of which 27 in software
ā¢ and hardware, 13 foreign organizations
ā¢ 2 000 jobs
ā¢ Generating RUR 1 bn in revenues
ā¢ Special tax and customs regime
ā¢ Close to Tomsk Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Science
http://www.investintomsk.com/investicionnye_vozmozhnosti/tomskaya_osobaya_ekonomicheskaya_zona/oez_tvt/
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24. IT Industry Parks (3)
Kazan IT Park
ā¢ Platform to support for promising IT startups
ā¢ 30 000 m2
ā¢ 157 resident companies
ā¢ Approximately 4 000 jobs
ā¢ Generating RUR 8.7 bn in revenues
ā¢ Special tax regime applicable
http://new.itpark-kazan.ru/
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25. Our industry-specific services (1)
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IT services, incl.
ā¢ System Admin set up and permanent help desk
ā¢ ERP systems implementation
Market research/ business partner search, incl.
ā¢ Advice on localization options (partner search, special economic
zones, industrial parks, etc.)
Company registration and business set-up, incl.
ā¢ Legal and business address
ā¢ Office search
Tax and legal services, incl.
ā¢ IT company accreditation
ā¢ Intercompany agreements
ā¢ Labor contracts
ā¢ Service agreements with private entrepreneurs
ā¢ Tax advice for managers (short- und mid-term stay) in Russia, annual
tax returns
ā¢ Tax and legal due diligence
ā¢ Migration services (visas, work permits)
ā¢ Transfer pricing
26. Our industry-specific services (2)
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Interim management, incl.
ā¢ General Director, head of branch or representative office
ā¢ Risk management
Recruiting services, incl.
ā¢ Front-office IT professionals
ā¢ Local office management, accountants etc.
Outstaffing, incl.
ā¢ Employment of your team by SCHNEIDER GROUP
ā¢ Work place, office equipment, secretary services provided by
SCHNEIDER GROUP
ā¢ Business software potentially provided by SCHNEIDER GROUP
Accounting outsourcing, incl.
ā¢ Financial accounting
ā¢ Transformation and reporting according to IFRS/US GAAP
ā¢ Payroll accounting with special knowledge about local salary-related
regulations
ā¢ Tax accounting