St Petersburg University project awarded with Technology Breakthrough Award 2022

The annual Technology Breakthrough Award aims to identify, support and promote outstanding technological projects, solutions and achievements of Russian companies, research centres and educational organisations. It is awarded to project leaders, researchers, product developers for their considerable contribution to the development of Russian technology business and significant achievements in the technological development of the country.

Particular emphasis in 2022 was placed on creating sustainable conditions in Russia to: achieve technological sovereignty; and support projects that demonstrate the ideas and solutions necessary and meaningful for this. The DCMS (decentralised interbank messaging system) was developed by specialists at the Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre at St Petersburg University with the aim of giving all participants in the global banking system a new tool that will enable the exchange of financial messages with a high degree of reliability. The disconnection of Russian banks from the global financial messaging system in March 2022 foregrounded the need to develop a SWIFT analogue. However, the main challenge was to create not just an analogue, but an open, reliable system without a sole owner that could be trusted by all its participants.

The Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre aims to create not only solutions that improve life here and now, but also those that should change the world of the future.

Dmitriy Shishmakov, Head of the Competence Centre of the National Technology Initiative "The Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre at St Petersburg University"

‘The decentralised interbank messaging system is a prime example of this development. At the beginning of the year, not many people thought about the need for such solutions. Today, country leaders are talking about the prospects of creating a new system of international payments based on distributed ledger technologies, completely secure for all participants,’ said Dmitriy Shishmakov, Head of the Competence Centre of the National Technology Initiative ‘The Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre at St Petersburg University’.

The Technology Breakthrough Award 2022 was awarded in 11 categories to the best projects dedicated to the development of transport, medicine, education, nuclear power and other spheres. All participants went through several stages of evaluation, including the expertise of the Centre for Strategic Research. The prize winners were awarded by: Dmitry Peskov, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Digital Development and General Director of the National Technology Initiative platform; and Maxim Kolesnikov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

The Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre at St Petersburg University is the leading competence centre of the National Technology Initiative programme for the development of blockchain technology and ecosystem in Russia. In addition to the DCMS, i.e. a decentralised interbank messaging system, the centre’s developments include: the document management system "Eloris"; the remote voting system "CryptoVeche"; the identification and monitoring system for the movement of cultural property "Edemes"; and other products created using distributed ledger technologies.

Dmitry Peskov noted that the Government of the Russian Federation plans to complete the work next year on creating a catalogue of promising technology companies as part of the federal project "Take-off from Start-up to IPO". The catalogue will include a separate list of companies that are prize winners of the Technology Breakthrough Award, which will be an additional sign of quality for investors and international partners.