Local firms developed the software for the ambitious project. A few of them are based in a brand new IT park in Kazan, open since last October.
There we meet Tatarstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Communications Minister, Nikolay Nikiforov – at 28, already a former IT entrepreneur who has moved into government.
He is working on increasing broadband coverage for Kazan’s 1.1 million inhabitants, from 50% at present to 70% next year.
The city is also the first place in Russia and neighbouring countries to roll out a next-generation broadband wireless network – LTE.
It is all very much in line with the modernisation agenda that the federal government in Moscow is pushing.
But even in this wired republic, not everything is fail-safe.
In the car on the way to our next interview, I try to make a phone call using the mobile network. It drops out a few times – the reception is too weak.
