HSE University among Top Universities in Digital Economy
HSE University took second place in the new 2023 ranking of universities in the digital economy in Moscow and St Petersburg, having lost only to Bauman Moscow State Technical University. HSE University outperformed specialised IT universities such as Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (third place) and ITMO University (fifth place), as well as Moscow State University (fourth place).
HSE University Rector
‘HSE University has once again proven its leading position in the IT field. Our university has trained highly qualified engineers and specialists in computer science for ten years. Besides, we believe that digital competencies should be developed in all students. At HSE University, the educational IT module is mandatory for undergraduate students, regardless of their area of study. Today, we are especially interested in artificial intelligence technologies. And we will not merely develop education in this area, but will also try to build the university’s work in partnership with artificial intelligence.’
The ranking was prepared by ANO Digital Economy with support from the Information and Computer Technologies Industry Association (APKIT) and the Russian Ministry of Digital Development. As Sergey Plugotarenko, Director General of ANO Digital Economy, noted, the goal of the ranking is to create a tool for analysing and encouraging universities to more closely cooperate with business in training personnel. It is expected that the best IT universities will be announced annually.
The ranking assessed 304 leading universities and examined 63 areas of training and specialities related to IT personnel. The final results were prepared for two groups of universities: universities in Moscow and St Petersburg, and those in other parts of Russia.
The assessment of universities was carried out based on official statistics on the training of IT personnel (data from monitoring universities by Russia's Ministry of Education and Science) and a survey of 90 respondents conducted by ANO Digital Economy. The respondents were represented by leading technology companies: large accredited IT companies, founders of ANO Digital Economy, and members of APKIT. The survey contained only open-ended questions and, according to its results, the respondents’ mentioned 157 educational institutions from 56 constituent entities of Russia. The final ranking of Moscow and St Petersburg universities included 24 institutions. The final ranking of regional universities included 30 entries. Among regional universities, the top three included Ural Federal University, Novosibirsk State Technical University, and Novosibirsk State University.
One of the specialised departments for training IT specialists is HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science. The Faculty of Computer Science is Russia's leading research and educational centre in this field and the overall leader in terms of the number of olympiad winners among applicants. In 2023, 93 prize-winners of the All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren enrolled in the faculty. In 2021, HSE University’s AI Research Centre was created at the Faculty of Computer Science.
Since 2017, HSE University has been developing digital competencies and competencies in working with big data among students of all educational programmes and fields. Since 2022, the Data Culture project, supported by Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science and Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, has been integrated into the ‘Digital Department’ project of the ‘Priority 2030’ programme. HSE University was awarded the highest grant within the programme for teaching digital competencies to students.
HSE University students master big data analysis methods and tools to solve professional tasks in their field. Representatives of leading Russian digital companies take part in an independent assessment of end-to-end digital skills development.
HSE University is open to interaction with other universities. The university’s IT educational module can be implemented not only as part of double degree programmes with HSE University but also separately, in a mixed or completely online format. The model for integrating modules on digital competencies into the main educational programmes developed at HSE University allows students to master digital competencies in any field of training.
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