ITMO: ITMO University Joins Digital Professions in Russia Initiative

The program is designed for all Russian citizens between the ages of 16 and 65 with vocational or higher education. The first 25,000 people who will on the website will have the chance to join the state program.

The new initiative is a continuation of the Personal Digital Certificate program that involved ITMO University, too. Last year, the university offered courses on applied AI, AI methods in cybersecurity, big data analysis, and .

This time, the program brought together over 20 top Russian universities, major online learning platforms, and major IT companies such as Netology, Innopolis University, GeekBrains, Yandex.Practicum, Sberbank Corporate University, and others.

ITMO University offered three courses in the following fields:

Web Development;
Data Analytics Technology;
Building Information Model (BIM) Design Automation.


Introduction to the Data Analytics Technology course (in Russian)

All three were specifically prepared for the Digital Professions program and had not previously been posted on any online platforms. Upon the successful completion of the courses, students will receive an official ITMO certificate.

The course is designed for those wishing to master the fundamentals of front- and back-end web development and gradually move to junior-level work. The program doesn’t require any specialized knowledge. The four-month course will be held in September, October, and November. The project will continue till late 2024. In turn, participants of the second course will study for two months. Just like the previous one, the course will include three sessions, as well.

“The course is an introduction to data science. During classes, students learn how to structure, save, and efficiently process data, as well as discover patterns with the help of machine learning. Specifically designed for the program, our course incorporates the experiences of the lecturers teaching digital culture to Bachelor’s and Master’s students at ITMO. While working with data, students can make use of various methods, such as spreadsheets, Python, database languages (SQL, etc.) and Azure ML Studio,” says Elena Mikhailova, the head of ITMO’s Higher School of Digital Culture and a program curator.

The third course prepared by ITMO specialists is the first of its kind on in Russia. The program focuses on industrial automation, particularly building design. During their studies, participants get to learn more about technology for building information modeling (BIM) using the Autodesk Revit software, as well as the creation of plugins for Autodesk Revit in C#.

The total duration of the course is 360 hours. Prospective students can apply for one of the two sessions: October 2021 – March 2022 or January-May 2022.


Olga Dmitrieva, the head of ITMO’s Professional Education Support Office, believes that this is an amazing opportunity for the university to present its educational and technology products.

“This way, the university can not only support the social project initiated by the state but also develop its ecosystem of supplementary education in a diverse and profound manner. The more courses we will offer, the more chances we will have to become a leader in the field of higher education and education for adults.

Our programs should go beyond our graduates. We want to attract not only Generation X but also Generation Y, the digital-native millennials. Although our core programs work perfectly for Generation Z, participation in such projects lets us earn the trust of previous generations and attract them to our university, too,” explains Olga Dmitrieva.