Almaz Khakimov, Vadim Karlinskiy, Rafael Rakhmatullin
In the modern world, information technology is strategically important both for the state and for private companies. In our research, we have identified the main factors influencing the development of information and communication technologies of the country and conducted a comparative analysis of the implementation of these factors in the American and Russian SMEs. As a result of the research it has been determined that in the ICT Development Index, Russia has been holding a stable position since 2017, and the United States is 20 positions up in the list. It has been found that Russia does not effectively implement the policy of intellectual property rights protection. This is evidenced by the registration of many IT companies abroad and the high level of piracy in software, which is 45% higher than in the US and has not changed for 10 years. In our research we observed a positive dynamics in the availability of IT professionals, since 2013 compared to 2018 there has been 100% increase in vacancies. The comparative analysis shows that Russia is able to compete with the USA in Internet service, and it is only 1-2% inferior to US companies. To increase Russia's competitiveness in the ICT, we propose to implement international norms in the domestic legislation, so that we can return many IT companies registered abroad to the Russian jurisdiction. This will increase the country's budget. Moreover, educational restructuring in the area of IT specialists’ and future entrepreneurs’ preparation is required.