Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The first St. Petersburg Forum on Continuing Professional Education was held at the Polytechnic University. It focused on the practical development and implementation of continuing professional education programs based on Russian software. Participants explored the potential for integrating IT companies into the educational process, platform solutions, and teacher training to jointly shape the educational technology market of the future.
The forum was held as part of the "Priority 2030" strategic academic leadership program, where the creation and development of new models of continuing professional education is one of the university's priority areas of development. In this context, participants were presented with promising developments at SPbPU, including proprietary software simulators for engineering training, specialized educational kits for specialized schools, and adapted professional retraining programs for SVO participants. These projects demonstrate the transition toward creating a comprehensive ecosystem of practice-oriented educational products aimed at ensuring the country's technological sovereignty.
The forum was attended by leading experts in continuing professional education, representatives of executive authorities, leading domestic software developers, representatives of public organizations, universities, colleges, and schools.
"The role of continuing professional education has significantly increased, and without its development, it's impossible to quickly overcome staffing shortages. As a university actively working in this field, we recognized the acute need for a unified discussion platform in St. Petersburg—this is what prompted us to initiate this forum," emphasized Dmitry Tikhonov, Vice-Rector for Continuing and Pre-University Education at SPbPU.
The forum's key event was the plenary session, which featured speeches by Andrey Lavrov, Senior Director of the National Research University Higher School of Economics; Mikhail Shepel, Vice-Rector for Continuing Education at Tomsk State University; Ekaterina Sklyarenko, Head of Marketing at hh.ru Northwest; and Olga Chebunina, CEO of Agropromtsifra JSC and Deputy Chair of the Agricultural Research Center. During the panel discussion, participants discussed labor market trends, the digitalization of education, and ways to integrate continuing education into the educational process.
Continuing education isn't just a way to enhance knowledge, skills, and competencies; it's a way to solve business problems. Universities are now creating problem-based continuing education. When a business encounters a problem, the university finds solutions and immediately trains employees to do so. We believe this model of continuing education is very promising, noted HSE Senior Director Andrey Lavrov.
In today's world, new technologies are emerging at a rapid pace, so it's important to quickly adapt specialists to these changes. DPO programs are very helpful in this regard, emphasized Olga Chebunina, CEO of JSC Agropromtsifra and Deputy Chair of the Agricultural Research Center.
Following the plenary session, work continued in thematic sections, where discussions of DPO issues became more substantive and focused on specific areas.
Leonid Potapov, Head of ITAT Educational Program Development at Gazprom Neft, moderated the breakout session "Engineering Technologies and Domestic Software." The discussion focused on creating a holistic ecosystem for IT personnel training. Key aspects included integrating Russian software into educational programs and developing a practice-oriented approach to teaching. Particular attention was paid to building effective collaboration between universities and businesses to develop relevant competencies in students, as well as independent assessment of specialist qualifications through a voluntary certification system. All of this is aimed at developing a sustainable talent pool for the industry in the context of import substitution.
Dmitry Tikhonov, Vice-Rector for Continuing Professional Education at SPbPU, moderated the track "Continuing Professional Education as a Tool for Implementing National Projects and Achieving Technological Leadership." The track discussed the systemic role of continuing professional education in addressing large-scale national challenges. A key focus of the discussion was the need to develop a unified state-corporate architecture for continuing professional education, ensuring the standardization of competencies and the development of networked educational models. Participants emphasized that achieving technological sovereignty is impossible without close integration between the government, business, and educational institutions.
Pavel Kozlovsky, the project's chief engineer and the Scientific Laboratory for Strategic Development of Engineering Markets at the St. Petersburg Polytechnical School, moderated the section "The Production Framework for Continuing Professional Education." The key topic was building close integration between manufacturing companies, corporate clients, and educational institutions to develop practice-oriented programs. Participants emphasized the importance of adapting educational content to current technological trends, including the integration of domestic digital solutions and the development of data skills. This, taken together, forms a solid foundation for training highly qualified next-generation engineering professionals.
The "Innovative Educational Technologies in Continuing Professional Education" track discussed the practical application of modern digital tools to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of learning. Denis Kirikov, CEO of the Unmanned Aviation School, moderated the session. Participants examined specific case studies—from a management decision simulator for knowledge-intensive industries and virtual labs for engineering disciplines to the use of autonomous robots in education—demonstrating how these technologies are transforming the educational process.
The discussion focused on the development of an adaptive and practice-oriented training system within the "Characteristics of Modern Cybersecurity Education in an Industry-Specific Context" track. Denis Ivanov, Associate Professor at the SPbPU Higher School of Cybersecurity, moderated the session. A key topic was the need for close synergy between universities and the business community to develop educational programs that not only provide fundamental knowledge but also address specific industry requirements. Participants placed particular emphasis on integrating domestic solutions and standards into the educational process, which enables the development of specialists prepared for work in an import substitution environment and able to meet the challenges of modern cybersecurity.
A significant highlight of the forum was a large-scale exhibition area, showcasing developments from both the Polytechnic University itself and leading industry companies. SPbPU presented its solutions from the Advanced Engineering School, the Higher Engineering School, the Institute of Secondary Vocational Education, the Higher School of Power Engineering, and the Physics Department. External vendors included Bazalt SPO, UAVPROF, MGBOT, Razvitie, and Medviar. Visitors were able to not only learn about the latest developments in educational technology but also test them in real time, allowing them to evaluate the practical value of the solutions presented.
The forum also saw the signing of significant cooperation agreements. SPbPU and WINNUM, a developer of domestic software and equipment for digital production monitoring based on Industrial Internet of Things technologies, entered into a partnership agreement. This collaboration will enable the development of modern forms of supplementary education, the creation of new-generation research laboratories, and the incorporation of unique knowledge into the educational process.
The strategic alliance with Basalt SPO was also strengthened. At the ceremony, leading faculty members from the SPbPU Higher School of Engineering received "Basalt SPO Certification Expert" certificates, making Polytechnic the first educational center in Russia capable of certifying faculty for authorized training on the company's products. These agreements laid the foundation for training a new generation of IT specialists and developing the Industrial IoT.
Special attention was given to continuing professional education for participants in the special military operation. A comprehensive approach to supporting military personnel and their families was discussed at the closed panel entitled "SVO – Service, Labor, and Return to Civilian Life." Of particular importance in working with veterans is the creation of a comprehensive system of professional adaptation, where training programs are directly linked to subsequent employment. Irina Drozdenko, Director of the Leningrad Region Multicenter for Social and Labor Integration, participated in the discussion and presented a comprehensive support model that unites educational institutions and social services into a single coordination mechanism. The discussion focused on interagency cooperation and the development of personalized career paths to ensure a smooth and successful transition for military personnel to civilian professional activity.
The 1st St. Petersburg Forum on Continuing Professional Education allowed representatives of educational organizations and businesses to exchange experiences and find solutions for improving the quality of continuing professional education programs and their implementation in all sectors.
The forum's key objective was to bring together representatives from government, educational institutions, industry, and software vendors. This allowed participants not only to present their models and mechanisms but also to collaborate on new ideas. Another key goal was to create a strong partnership between qualified customers and qualified providers. This approach is critical to accelerating the market entry of continuing education programs, noted Dmitry Tikhonov.
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